Re: Trip Report 12-17 Oregon Day

Jobe,

If I get out there, I'll see if I can do anything to help with the pool.

As for the cows, I wasn't really complaining, just making an observation. I actually make my living in the environmental sciences, and I would doubt there would be a realistic environmental benefit to grazing the cows around the creek basin. Although they have stepped into the buffalo's hoofprints to some extent, buffalo (bison) are migratory, and spend less time/mileage on a per-acre load basis...cows are habitual browsers, often beating the same paths into/out of favored areas, and are much more likely to create erosion problems. Nutrients, yeah, I'll buy that one. Probably more of an "even washout" on the benefit vs. damage angle. Easy on the "city dweller" thing, too...it's two to three times farther from "town" to my home than it is from Hesperia to DCHS, and the drive's not that different, other than the elevation changes and scenery. Back home, I can drive two hours in any direction and be half-way across the state, passing through mostly rural areas the whole way (and see an awful lot of cows on the way). Out here, I can drive two hours, and never leave town, even though it might really be several towns.

As the weather looks right now, I'll probably be out there, so maybe we'll get a chance to meet. I've got a folding shovel, if you can bring those sandbags.

Jim