Daily Archives: May 20, 2013

Vast Oklahoma Tornado Kills at Least 91

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MOORE, Okla. — A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed at least 91 people, 20 of them children, as it tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs Monday afternoon, flattening homes, flinging cars through the air and crushing at least two schools.

The injured flooded into hospitals, and the authorities said many people remained trapped, even as rescue workers struggled to make their way through debris-clogged streets to the devastated suburb of Moore, where much of the damage occurred.

Amy Elliott, the spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner, said at least 91 people had died, including the children, and officials said that toll was likely to climb. Hospitals reported at least 145 people injured, 70 of them children.

Read more at the New York Times
SEE ALSO: How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

Coconino and Kaibab National forests implement fire restrictions Wednesday.

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Santa Fe reservoir dropping rapidly. - NAG 05/17

Santa Fe reservoir dropping rapidly. – NAG 05/17

WILLIAMS—While the Santa Fe reservoir may look full from the dam side, a look at the other end tells a different story. Santa Fe and Buckskinner reservoirs filled up after the snow fall of the winter, but Kaibab and Dogtown lakes did not fill even close to capacity. With spring only half over, Santa Fe is already rapidly dropping to low-level.

This situation, of course, leads to the inevitable fire restrictions in the Coconino and Kaibab forests. The forest service will be implementing fire restrictions starting Wednesday, the 22nd. The dry, warm, windy conditions forecast over the Memorial Day weekend are likely to cause Red Flag warning conditions.

Under the restrictions, fires, campfires, charcoal, coal and wood stoves are allowed in developed campgrounds only. The restrictions also limit smoking to within enclosed vehicles or buildings or in developed campgrounds. Using a device that is solely fueled by liquid petroleum or LPG fuels that can be turned on and off is allowed in areas that are clear of flammable materials.

Visitors to the area are reminded that they are subject to heavy fines or even arrest for ejecting cigarette butts from a vehicle and are encouraged to use the car ash tray. The Williams Visitors Center offers pocket ash trays that smokers can carry with them in town, but they are not authorized for use in the forest as a substitute for common sense.

Fire restrictions will be in effect until the area receives significant precipitation. That is not likely to occur unless the area receives heavy monsoon rains which usually occur around the beginning of July.

Bearizona celebrates 3rd anniversay Wednesday

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WILLIAMS—The Bearizona drive-through wildlife theme park in Williams celebrates its third year in operation this Wednesday, May 22nd. From its humble beginning, the park grew to include raptor show run by the High Country Raptors. Now they even include an open-air bus tour.

The open windows of the bus allow you to take photographs without interference from the car windows. The cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children 4 to 12 and children under three ride for free.

On the tour you will see goats, donkeys, Bighorn sheep, wolves and the star attraction. In the walk-through area you can take in the free raptor show or some of the smaller animals and juvenile bears.

Unmasking Liberalism on the Arizona Range

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The Drake Exclosure --- The American Thinker

The Drake Exclosure — The American Thinker

When I bring environmentalists here and ask them what they would do to remedy this apparent failure of one of their most basic principles, invariably, they say they would continue to protect the area even though that policy has failed for 66+ years.

By Dan Dagget
May 18, 2013

Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about liberalism I’ve learned from an unexpected source — nature. Some of the clearest and most instructive of those lessons have come from a U. S. Forest Service “study area” in the central Arizona high desert.

In 1946, the U. S. Forest Service erected a fence around a portion of an area exhausted by human overuse and misuse in this arid rangeland to demonstrate one of the core principles of modern liberal environmentalism — that the best way to restore damaged land to ecological health is to protect it from the impacts of humans. Today, the Drake Exclosure (The Drake) (PDF) has been under the beneficent care of nature alone for more than 66 years, but…

Rather than the revived Eden one would expect to find after 66 years of environmental protection, much of the Drake, today, is as bare as a well-used parking lot.

“Actually, it looks pretty much the same as it did back in 1946,” said a Forest Service scientist studying the area, “but the trees were smaller.”

Read more at the American Thinker