| Old Articles - The Windmill Spin | |
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RECIPE FOR RANCHING - 4-7-06 When Arizona Land and Ranches purchased Windmill Ranch and divided the land east of Hwy. 93 into 240 forty acre and larger parcels, a plan was put in place for the ranch to operate much as before. AZL&R retained ownership of the Windmill Ranch cattle grazing operation. The cattle operation has now been sold; with all real property, leases and easements transferred to the new owner. This grazing area, including the lease on the state sections that checkerboards with the private ranch land, adds up to about 50 square miles. They also kept all watering tanks, wells, windmills and real property necessary to the larger ranch operation. Most importantly to the smaller 'ranchers', or parcel owners, AZL&R, and now the present owner, is granted an easement for access along the outer 30' of each of the 240 parcels sold. This is so the cattle can move freely over the ranch to reach state and private land even if most of the parcels eventually are fenced. Parcels not fenced fall under the Arizona Open Range Laws. The cattle need to move from watering holes out to their grazing areas just as they have always done. The ranch wranglers also need this easement to work with the cattle. This easement...click here to see entire article.
How to not be a "Rancher" |
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| HELENA, Mont. - Roger Lang says he was an ''absolute
novice'' about what it truly meant to be a Montana ranch owner when he
used some of his Silicon Valley millions to buy an 18,000-acre spread
here. Now, seven years later, Lang has advice for others desiring a big slice of Big Sky Country, where owning a ranch has gained a certain cachet from celebrity buyers such as Ted Turner, Tom Brokaw and David Letterman. ''I think when you come as an outsider, the most important thing is to admit what you are and admit what you aren't,'' Lang says in a new, short film produced by the state wildlife agency and a cattlemen's group. ''I'm not a rancher by background, and I'm learning how to be a rancher from my friends here in the community.'' The film, ''Owning Eden,'' is an attempt to help wealthy outsiders shopping for ranches understand the big picture of life in rural Montana. ''Owning Eden'' evolved from concern about changes happening in the state as traditional ranchers, some with land and customs passed through generations, sell their properties - often at prices that astonish their neighbors. One real estate agency's ranch listings include 5,700 acres east of Great Falls for $7.2 million; 30,000 acres in the heart of Montana for $12.5 million; and 416 acres near Livingston for $3.8 million. The colossus is a 17,000-acre spread near the Idaho border, already in nonresident hands for some time and listed at $25.9 million. That includes a house featured in Architectural Digest. When newcomers invest that kind of money, traditional ranching often ceases. Sometimes, long-standing customs such as opening the land to public hunting evaporate as well. ''We feel there is a role we can play in reaching out to these people,'' said Steve Pilcher, executive vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, which produced the film with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Often, the newcomers ''don't realize they're buying more than just the real estate.'' New arrivals remain a minority by a wide margin, according to the stockgrowers' association, which says 83 percent of Montana ranches have been in the family for more than 25 years, and 10 percent for more than a century. With stunning scenery, the film portrays ranching as a rich part of Montana's heritage, woven with neighborliness and respect for the land. The beauty that draws people here is ''the product of conservation, not preservation,'' the narrator says in an apparent pitch to people who may envision converting ranches into sanctuaries. The tone of the film, featuring longtime ranchers Chase Hibbard and Maynard Smith along with Lang, is friendly. ''This needs to be real nonthreatening, informational,'' said Ron Aasheim of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. ''We're not in the business of telling people what to do.'' He hopes real estate offices, conservation groups and others in contact with would-be ranch owners will help circulate the film. ''In my experience, the first thing that happens is the padlock goes on the gate,'' Hibbard, who ranches near Helena, says to the camera. ''I can understand why they feel that way when they come here. It's a major expenditure, they may come from a place where you have to protect your property rights, you have to protect the safety of your person. We're not there, yet, in this state.'' The film suggests new ranch owners allow hunting as a way to help manage wildlife, particularly elk, that will roam and feed at neighboring ranches, where the forage is needed for cattle. Another message: Control your weeds. The weed-wildflower called Dalmatian toadflax may provide a nice splash of color, but it disregards property lines. ''When you're across the fence from somebody, if he doesn't take care of his weeds, you're going to have them,'' said Smith, who ranches in the Dillon area of southwestern Montana and has the weathered look of a Western traditionalist. Hibbard suggests lockouts involve not just gates; sometimes they're found in attitudes, as well. ''Make some friends in the community. Be sensitive to the values that existed before you came, and be supportive of those values instead of locking them out,'' he says, reinforced by the narrator's appeal for newcomers to preserve ''the values that led you to Montana in the first place.'' Lang, whose Infinity Financial Technology software company was bought by SunGard Data Systems in 1998 for about $313 million in stock, said in a telephone interview that he agreed to be in the film because newcomers need to be informed. ''I can imagine how unsettling it is for Montanans, especially multigenerational Montanans, to see people come in and treat this like it's some kind of suburban playground,'' Lang said from Sun Ranch, which he bought from actor Steven Seagal. The ranch, about 40 miles from Yellowstone National Park, is a part-time home for Lang, who is in California often. ''Urban people are tightly packed, very densely populated and they protect their own with more than a white picket fence,'' he said. ''When we come here there is a completely different ethic - that you protect each other.'' At the multistate real estate agency Hall and Hall, manager Jim Taylor said the purchase of Montana ranches by newcomers who pay handsomely has been happening for years. Ted Turner's ranch ownership helped shine a spotlight on the state for other celebrities looking to buy, said Taylor, who was involved in Turner's 1989 purchase of the Flying D Ranch near Bozeman. Taylor has not seen ''Owning Eden,'' but said he probably will be comfortable with the film if he does not detect an ''edge'' in it. He finds that the wealthy buy land in Montana for reasons beyond natural splendor, wildlife, getting away and the cowboy mystique. ''You have something that is very fundamental,'' he said. ''People say that to own a beautiful piece of land is like owning a piece of fine art,'' but with the added dimension of permanence. It's been a long time since prices for Montana land reflected how many cows it could support, Taylor noted. ''Now somebody will say 'I'll pay a thousand for the view, and another $5,000 because it doesn't have roads through it, and $10,000 because I can get there easily from the airport.''' Rich newcomers with ranches have a responsibility ''not to throw their money around and not to upset local customs,'' Taylor said. ''We [Montanans] have a responsibility to welcome these people and help them become part of the communities." By Susan Gallagher - reprinted from Salt Lake Tribune previous articles
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| XM Radio - We have it! | |
| We are so far out from the vast urban wasteland that we don't
receive AM or FM well, so we decided to get satellite XM Radio. We
have over 100 crystal-clear channels to choose from. I have ordered and received the Delphi Roady2 XM radio receiver from an online Satellite Radio Store. (see links) This is a top rated Yahoo Shopping site. I initiated the service online and was soon checking out this little wonder. The Roady2 has a built-in FM modulator so the only hook-ups are for the power supply and the antenna. I positioned the antenna on the roof near the FM radio antenna, so the output of the XM radio comes in on 88.1 on the FM dial, this frequency chosen from about a dozen for its relatively quiet background. The original Delphi Roady needed a separate FM modulator or a cassette adapter. These XM radios can also be hooked up directly to a receiver equipped to accept the input cables. This would result in the highest quality sound possible from your XM radio. The set-up that we have produces great quality stereo sound. My favorite music channel so far is x-country which includes 'progressive country'. We get news channels on the xm radio. Of course I still have to listen to the talking heads, I guess now they are the invisible talking heads; it being radio rather than TV. There are channels for old favorites of the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's; plus many genre-type commercial-free music channels. We like to listen to late-night talk radio shows, so keep something on all the time. If I get tired of the talk shows, I turn it to the old-time radio channel. I remember listening to these when I was a kid, before there was television in our house. All I will need to move the XM radio back and forth from house to car is the addition of another XM antenna. The Roady2 receiver is light enough to fasten to the dash with the velcro patches or the vent clip that came with the radio. The magnet on the little satellite antenna is really strong. It has little rubber feet that keeps it slightly above the surface of the finish of your automobile. We will not have to use an inverter for satellite radio as it is designed for use in 12 volt DC automobiles, and we have a 12 volt DC storage battery system. Hideaway Homestead. Camping 1-25-06 by Roger Thrush I don't remember who made the comment to me in Oregon, but it went like this: "Are you still camping up there on your property"? I guess I thought we were living on our off-grid property but it made me think about the distinction. We were charging house batteries with a small engine driven alternator with the help of one small photovoltaic panel. Our water system was completely gravity powered, the only moving part being the water itself. Surplus water in the winter and spring kept a large water reservoir filled through most of the gardening season, the garden water supply lasting into the late dry season when it was time to slack off on the water to the tomatoes, corn, etc. But yes, we were actually camping, in the same sense that we all are setting up camp at our homesites for a determinate period. You may have a most comfortable home equipped with the latest comforts but you are there on a temporary basis in the big scheme of things. I suppose that you might think living in your home was camping only if your power went off and you had to break out the camping supplies. Trust me, you are camping wherever you pitch your tent. The question is, do all the comforts of home really provide more security for you than for someone with a lesser home but perhaps independence from the power grid? In the last two years various hurricanes have cut off power to over a million homes at a time; many to be without power for a week. With so many people in a concentrated area lacking the usual refrigeration etc. it becomes a real public health and safety issue, even in neighborhoods that did not experience massive destruction of homes. Thankfully people helped each other. The scale of the emergencies was beyond what any level of government could handle alone. It is our responsibility to be prepared the best of our ability for whatever comes our way. With the independence from the potential failure of the public power system comes a level of security that, though there are no guarantees; leads one to admit: yes, I may be a happy camper.
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