Friday, 9:00 AM. 39 degrees F, wind NE, calm to gusty. The sky is completely overcast and everything is wet and damp, but the barometer is up so it should clear later or at least by tomorrow.
The Chamber annual meeting and awards dinner was held last night, at the Bayfield Pavilion. The business meeting was succinct, the dinner speaker truly inspiring (a local woman who has climbed the world’s seven highest peaks, despite having the highly debilitating disease of MS). The retiring Executive Director was awarded gifts, cheers and even some tears. But the best award of all I thought was that given to the six individuals who got up early every morning all summer to go out and water the city’s hanging flower baskets.
Yesterday I said I would explain the Managed Forest Law which mandated the logging where I deer hunt. Actually there are two rather similar Wisconsin laws, the Managed Forest Law and the Forest Crop Law, both of which provide property tax relief incentives to owners of forested land who properly manage their holdings. And, proper management means responsible logging on a planned schedule.
The MFL lands must be open to public hunting, fishing and other recreation; the FCL lands are only open to hunting and fishing. The owner may negotiate some restrictions to public access, but at a reduced rate of tax relief. That said, both programs offer very significant tax relief, according to formulas which are rather too detailed to explain herein.
These programs have several objectives, the first being an incentive to owners of forested land to harvest their timber in a manner which assures that it is being done scientifically, as a certified forester must be hired to devise the plan. Equally important is assuring that timber on private lands is actually being harvested, which keeps the overall forest young and more healthy, reduces fire hazards, adds more oxygen to the atmosphere while reducing carbon dioxide, and provides optimum wildlife habitat (particularly for grouse and deer).
The second objective is to provide recreational opportunities for the public on private forest land. This is a considerable recreational resource, which can be accessed by computer search by county or a hard copy Open Lands Listing of properties enrolled in the programs (available from the WIDNR). Word of mouth and local knowledge are probably just as important.
A third objective is adding forest resources to the forest products income stream of the state and nation. Forest products…logging, lumbering, paper production and other wood products, is one of the most important industries in the State of Wisconsin, and vital to its economic health.
It seems that these programs are win-win for everyone, although as with all tax supported programs, they must be continually monitored by the tax paying public to see that the benefits outweigh the costs. There is also the very real hazard of lands being held primarily for real estate investment at an artificially low tax rate. Timber companies, many of them huge national and international corporations, have been very deft at this, holding enormous acreages and then subdividing them into smaller parcels when the market is ripe.
However, for myself and many others the most obvious benefit is a good place to hunt.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
I SURE WOULD LIKE SOME VENISON IN THE FREEZER
Thursday, 8:00 AM. 40 degrees F, wind SW, moderate with stronger gusts. It is a sparkling morning, the dark clouds being blown out rapidly and the sky quickly becoming blue. The channel has a chop on its waters, and the sea is shining in the early morning sunshine. A pileated woodpecker drummed incessantly from somewhere as we walked. It is a fine day, although the barometer predicts rain. But hopefully not before we get some last yard work done.
So, back to blog basics. Far less, I promise, of politics and more of weather observations, wildlife interest, and small town life. Of the last, the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual meeting tonight and Joan and I will attend. It is always a good evening, light on business and heavy on socializing. A special aspect of tonight’s event will be retirement best wishes for Executive Director Carrie Obst, who will leave at the end of this year. She has done a great job of leading the Chamber to financial solvency and new heights of community and member service. The membership has grown almost exponentially and the organization has become a true partner with the city in community development.
Also, as the election dust settles, Wisconsin has again proven itself a political enigma, as although the state went rather solidly for President Obama and filled a vacant U. S. Senate seat with a liberal Democrat, on the state front the Republicans retook the state senate and Wisconsin now has a Republican governor, and Republican senate and house majorities. Go figure!
My usual deer hunting territory has been closed to me for quite some time due to a squabble between adjacent landowners over an access road, the upshot of which is I finally got down to my usual deer stand yesterday via a new entrance to the old logging road, and the new truck negotiated it just fine. Joan and I and Buddy drove down the logging trail yesterday just before dark, and met one of the loggers on his way out, so we had a chance to talk to him, a very nice young man in his beat up old pickup truck.
They have cut and stacked some pretty big old oak trees from a portion of the tract that they did not log several years ago and the logs are stacked up at the end of the road, ready to be loaded out. He said they planned to be done, weather permitting, before deer season (which starts November 17, just ten days from now). My tree stand is intact and there doesn’t seem to be much disturbance in its immediate vicinity. He was kind enough to warn me of a coyote trap he has put out, so I won’t let Buddy run there. He said he has not seen any grouse so I probably won’t bird hunt there anyway.
He he has seen lots of coyote and quite a bit of deer sign, including a big buck rub down one of the ravines. Sometimes active logging actually attracts deer, as it provides a lot of fresh browse when the downed trees are limbed.
Now that I have access again I will spend some time scouting a bit. The area I hunt is enrolled in the Managed Forest Law program, and basically that is one reason it has been logged. I will explain that program in tomorrow’s blog.
I am not as excited about deer hunting this year as I sometimes have been, as I really don’t have anyone to hunt with anymore and that takes a lot of the fun out of it. But I sure would like some venison in the freezer.
So, back to blog basics. Far less, I promise, of politics and more of weather observations, wildlife interest, and small town life. Of the last, the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual meeting tonight and Joan and I will attend. It is always a good evening, light on business and heavy on socializing. A special aspect of tonight’s event will be retirement best wishes for Executive Director Carrie Obst, who will leave at the end of this year. She has done a great job of leading the Chamber to financial solvency and new heights of community and member service. The membership has grown almost exponentially and the organization has become a true partner with the city in community development.
Also, as the election dust settles, Wisconsin has again proven itself a political enigma, as although the state went rather solidly for President Obama and filled a vacant U. S. Senate seat with a liberal Democrat, on the state front the Republicans retook the state senate and Wisconsin now has a Republican governor, and Republican senate and house majorities. Go figure!
My usual deer hunting territory has been closed to me for quite some time due to a squabble between adjacent landowners over an access road, the upshot of which is I finally got down to my usual deer stand yesterday via a new entrance to the old logging road, and the new truck negotiated it just fine. Joan and I and Buddy drove down the logging trail yesterday just before dark, and met one of the loggers on his way out, so we had a chance to talk to him, a very nice young man in his beat up old pickup truck.
They have cut and stacked some pretty big old oak trees from a portion of the tract that they did not log several years ago and the logs are stacked up at the end of the road, ready to be loaded out. He said they planned to be done, weather permitting, before deer season (which starts November 17, just ten days from now). My tree stand is intact and there doesn’t seem to be much disturbance in its immediate vicinity. He was kind enough to warn me of a coyote trap he has put out, so I won’t let Buddy run there. He said he has not seen any grouse so I probably won’t bird hunt there anyway.
He he has seen lots of coyote and quite a bit of deer sign, including a big buck rub down one of the ravines. Sometimes active logging actually attracts deer, as it provides a lot of fresh browse when the downed trees are limbed.
Now that I have access again I will spend some time scouting a bit. The area I hunt is enrolled in the Managed Forest Law program, and basically that is one reason it has been logged. I will explain that program in tomorrow’s blog.
I am not as excited about deer hunting this year as I sometimes have been, as I really don’t have anyone to hunt with anymore and that takes a lot of the fun out of it. But I sure would like some venison in the freezer.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
STILL STUCK IN THE RASPBERRIES
Wednesday, 8:45 AM. 38 degrees F, wind W, calm. The sky is overcast with high gray clouds that are lightening somewhat as the morning progresses. It evidently rained a bit through the night, as everything is wet. I will have to put on my boots if I am going to do any last yard work. But the barometer predicts sunny skies.
Yesterday there was a large flock of migrating native whistling swans on the bay in Ashland, the adults white, the juveniles still gray. Chickadees are being seen around town in increasing numbers.
I remain mystified by the continuing assault of the DNR and many environmentalists on the non-native mute swans that used to be seen on our Wisconsin lakes, and which helped to keep the local Canada goose populations under control by their aggressive territoriality. They are stately and beautiful bids, but non-native, and so they have been pretty much eradicated, while the non-migratory geese become more and more of a problem. The native whistling swans only migrate through and I don't see how they are much affected by the non-native mute swans.
The election is over and I feel the way I felt a few days ago when I nearly got stuck in the blackberry blow down. Bloody and torn but basically intact. I could go on and on with my own analysis, feelings and observations but I won’t, except to say that the divisions are still there after a very close election with no true mandates. The deficit is still there, inflation is still there, waiting to pounce… and I think we will have basically the same situation going “forward” as we have had in the past four years. The House is still Republican, the Senate still narrowly divided, the mid-term elections are just two years away, and the President’s victory speech was another campaign speech, so here we are, still stuck in the raspberries.
Yesterday there was a large flock of migrating native whistling swans on the bay in Ashland, the adults white, the juveniles still gray. Chickadees are being seen around town in increasing numbers.
I remain mystified by the continuing assault of the DNR and many environmentalists on the non-native mute swans that used to be seen on our Wisconsin lakes, and which helped to keep the local Canada goose populations under control by their aggressive territoriality. They are stately and beautiful bids, but non-native, and so they have been pretty much eradicated, while the non-migratory geese become more and more of a problem. The native whistling swans only migrate through and I don't see how they are much affected by the non-native mute swans.
The election is over and I feel the way I felt a few days ago when I nearly got stuck in the blackberry blow down. Bloody and torn but basically intact. I could go on and on with my own analysis, feelings and observations but I won’t, except to say that the divisions are still there after a very close election with no true mandates. The deficit is still there, inflation is still there, waiting to pounce… and I think we will have basically the same situation going “forward” as we have had in the past four years. The House is still Republican, the Senate still narrowly divided, the mid-term elections are just two years away, and the President’s victory speech was another campaign speech, so here we are, still stuck in the raspberries.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
FOR FAITH, FAMILY AND FREEDOM
Tuesday, 8:15 AM. 35 degrees F, wind S, light with moderate gusts. The sky is overcast and it is raining lightly. The barometer predicts more of the same.
The leaves are all down now, and the last tourists, snow birds and boaters have gone to where ever they winter. The seasonal businesses are all closed and those few of us who remain have assumed winter attitudes of more or less grim survival. It is almost time to put the bird feeders up, as I haven’t seen a bear in weeks.
Election Day is here, and predictions are as unreliable and diverse as they were months ago. And that is probably a good thing, since I at least view virtually all the polls as flawed in one way or another, and few if any are large and diverse enough to be relevant, statistics not withstanding.
Anyone who regularly reads the Almanac knows my political and environmental views, for which I have few apologies. But I probably owe at least a few interested readers a final philosophical declaration concerning why I will vote Republican today. For President, Vice President, Senator, Congressman and state and county offices.
The reasons for my partisanship can be summed up in three words, which are probably not very original: Faith, Family and Freedom.
By Faith I mean not just my personal Christian religious beliefs, but a fundamental belief in a just God, a higher power and evolving creative force, from which our American Constitution, civil laws and social compacts all devolve. What man ordains, other men can deny. What their Creator has endowed mankind with, other men cannot take away.
By Family I mean not just my own, but the recognition that the traditional family is the basic unit of society, the atoms with which all other aspects of human society are built. When governments ignore or denigrate the family unit all the institutions of society are threatened.
By Freedom I mean individual liberty as endowed to us by our Creator and defined by just laws. Without individual freedom all governments are despotic, no matter how altruistically they are constituted or defined. Utopian theories and obtrusive governments, whether inspired by religion, social and economic equality or any other well-meaning concept, are fraudulent destroyers of individual liberty and the human spirit.
I am of the opinion that the current administration has neglected or actively eroded Faith, Family and Freedom on a continuing and massive scale, and that another four years of the same will be devastating to our nation. I therefore humbly suggest that you cast your vote in support of these fundamental values.
The leaves are all down now, and the last tourists, snow birds and boaters have gone to where ever they winter. The seasonal businesses are all closed and those few of us who remain have assumed winter attitudes of more or less grim survival. It is almost time to put the bird feeders up, as I haven’t seen a bear in weeks.
Election Day is here, and predictions are as unreliable and diverse as they were months ago. And that is probably a good thing, since I at least view virtually all the polls as flawed in one way or another, and few if any are large and diverse enough to be relevant, statistics not withstanding.
Anyone who regularly reads the Almanac knows my political and environmental views, for which I have few apologies. But I probably owe at least a few interested readers a final philosophical declaration concerning why I will vote Republican today. For President, Vice President, Senator, Congressman and state and county offices.
The reasons for my partisanship can be summed up in three words, which are probably not very original: Faith, Family and Freedom.
By Faith I mean not just my personal Christian religious beliefs, but a fundamental belief in a just God, a higher power and evolving creative force, from which our American Constitution, civil laws and social compacts all devolve. What man ordains, other men can deny. What their Creator has endowed mankind with, other men cannot take away.
By Family I mean not just my own, but the recognition that the traditional family is the basic unit of society, the atoms with which all other aspects of human society are built. When governments ignore or denigrate the family unit all the institutions of society are threatened.
By Freedom I mean individual liberty as endowed to us by our Creator and defined by just laws. Without individual freedom all governments are despotic, no matter how altruistically they are constituted or defined. Utopian theories and obtrusive governments, whether inspired by religion, social and economic equality or any other well-meaning concept, are fraudulent destroyers of individual liberty and the human spirit.
I am of the opinion that the current administration has neglected or actively eroded Faith, Family and Freedom on a continuing and massive scale, and that another four years of the same will be devastating to our nation. I therefore humbly suggest that you cast your vote in support of these fundamental values.
Monday, November 5, 2012
WHO'S ON FIRST...
Monday, 8:30 AM CST. 33 degrees, wind SW, calm. This morning is a repeat of yesterday morning, with high gray clouds covering the sky except for a small band of late dawn light on the southeastern horizon. The barometer is still down.
We have spent the last several days, and particularly yesterday, being even nicer than usual to folks we meet at the post office, on the street and at church, and they to us. It seems everyone wants politics to cool down a bit before the election, so that we are not immediately at each others throats again after it’s all over. It is easy to let the rhetoric go over the top, and hard if not impossible to put it back in the bag.
But we do, all of us, want to elect our candidate. But of late it is hard to recognize the candidates and their respective roles. One pundit said the other day that if he were a space alien dropped down from his spaceship he would not be able to correctly identify which candidate was the incumbent. So much of the time now the President looks like the challenger and Romney looks like the president. One looks tired and irritable, says small, mean things; the other looks in charge, presidential, and speaks in broadly uplifting terms. You be the judge, who is who?
Remember the old Abott and Costello comedy routine, Who’s On First, What’s On Second? Maybe I Don't Know really is on third, and it will remain that wayt until sometime late tomorrow night, or maybe Wednesday, or perhaps sometime before Christmas.
We have spent the last several days, and particularly yesterday, being even nicer than usual to folks we meet at the post office, on the street and at church, and they to us. It seems everyone wants politics to cool down a bit before the election, so that we are not immediately at each others throats again after it’s all over. It is easy to let the rhetoric go over the top, and hard if not impossible to put it back in the bag.
But we do, all of us, want to elect our candidate. But of late it is hard to recognize the candidates and their respective roles. One pundit said the other day that if he were a space alien dropped down from his spaceship he would not be able to correctly identify which candidate was the incumbent. So much of the time now the President looks like the challenger and Romney looks like the president. One looks tired and irritable, says small, mean things; the other looks in charge, presidential, and speaks in broadly uplifting terms. You be the judge, who is who?
Remember the old Abott and Costello comedy routine, Who’s On First, What’s On Second? Maybe I Don't Know really is on third, and it will remain that wayt until sometime late tomorrow night, or maybe Wednesday, or perhaps sometime before Christmas.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
A STARK, CLEAR CHOICE
Sunday, 9:30 AM CST. 35 degrees F, wind SW, calm at present. The sky is overcast with high, gray clouds except for a band of clear sky on the southeastern horizon. The barometer predicts precipitation. It is a quiet, gray day.
This is a special Sunday, the first Sunday before the first Tuesday in November, so I am breaking what has been a rather iron-clad rule of my blog; no political commentary on Sunday. It is a special Sunday because we are only hours now from one of the most important elections in the history of the United States of America. Some have likened it to the election of 1860, which elected Abraham Lincoln, ignited the Civil War, and assured the end of slavery.
If some say that is a gross overstatement of the importance of this coming Tuesday, consider that we are offered a stark choice for the future of the country, a true fork in the road; to the left is the road to Socialism and Statism at least, to dependence on government largess and the deadening of personal freedom; to the right lies a course toward renewed freedom of opportunity and individual liberty, and a diminished role for a bloated and oppressive government.
We have been pushed inexorably toward the left in the last four years. Another four years on the present course and we will be firmly on that path to a grim, grim future. A future of class warfare, stagnant economic growth, and crushing debt. A future where the American spirit has been impoverished, demeaned and factionalized. We are being tempted to sell our birthright of freedom and independence for a bowl of welfare pottage.
The path to the right is uphill, but it is straight and the goal at its end is clear; freedom. Freedom to grow, to progress, perhaps to fail…but above and beyond all, the freedom to dream. In other words, the goal is to reach America itself, the promised land our forefathers saw from distant shores and labored towards, long before we were born.
The President said yesterday that his followers should cast their votes for revenge. Governor Romney said in response that we should vote not for revenge, but for love of country. Think about it. Revenge and recrimination, or the American Dream. It is a stark, clear choice.
This is a special Sunday, the first Sunday before the first Tuesday in November, so I am breaking what has been a rather iron-clad rule of my blog; no political commentary on Sunday. It is a special Sunday because we are only hours now from one of the most important elections in the history of the United States of America. Some have likened it to the election of 1860, which elected Abraham Lincoln, ignited the Civil War, and assured the end of slavery.
If some say that is a gross overstatement of the importance of this coming Tuesday, consider that we are offered a stark choice for the future of the country, a true fork in the road; to the left is the road to Socialism and Statism at least, to dependence on government largess and the deadening of personal freedom; to the right lies a course toward renewed freedom of opportunity and individual liberty, and a diminished role for a bloated and oppressive government.
We have been pushed inexorably toward the left in the last four years. Another four years on the present course and we will be firmly on that path to a grim, grim future. A future of class warfare, stagnant economic growth, and crushing debt. A future where the American spirit has been impoverished, demeaned and factionalized. We are being tempted to sell our birthright of freedom and independence for a bowl of welfare pottage.
The path to the right is uphill, but it is straight and the goal at its end is clear; freedom. Freedom to grow, to progress, perhaps to fail…but above and beyond all, the freedom to dream. In other words, the goal is to reach America itself, the promised land our forefathers saw from distant shores and labored towards, long before we were born.
The President said yesterday that his followers should cast their votes for revenge. Governor Romney said in response that we should vote not for revenge, but for love of country. Think about it. Revenge and recrimination, or the American Dream. It is a stark, clear choice.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
STILL TIME TO JUMP OUT OF THE POT
Saturday, 8:45 AM. 32 degrees F, wind SW, calm to very light. The sky is completely overcast with high gray clouds. We had a dusting of snow last night, but the barometer is up. The days are short, and winter is upon us.
We had a nice trip, a good visit and a good time in the field, but my Madison meeting was canceled. Didn’t find out until meeting time, and then only by my own efforts. It turned out I was e-mailed notice on Wednesday noon, and by that time we were already on the road. I guess nobody had my cell phone number, but that begs the question of why everyone is expected to respond to everything “just in time” today.
I imagine there are folks arranging their days and their very lives now by twittering and tweeting. Everything is supposed to be instantaneous. Frankly I think it is all a recipe for disaster, with little thinking ahead and everyone saying and doing whatever comes into their heads at the moment. I suppose I will have to get an Iphone with a thousand apps to keep up with the daily demands of what is actually a rather simple life. “I think we are all in big trouble,“ said the old man.
Speaking of big trouble, that reminds me of the frog in the pot. You remember the parable of the frog placed into a pot of warm water on the stove, which he could have easily jumped out of, but it was nice and comfortable and he did not. Then the cook turned up the heat a little bit, and a little bit more, so gradually that the lazy frog adjusted to it bit by bit, still comfortably warm and snug in the pot. Finally the water started to boil, and that was the end of the frog, as it was by then too late to jump out.
We are all frogs in the pot right now, with more and more government largess that feels pretty good, but goes from a lower to a higher intensity without our even noticing it, with greater and greater intrusions in our daily lives, with more and more laws and regulations and bureaucracy until we are finally cooked, no longer free frogs, but frogs legs on the dictator’s plate (the dictator being an individual, an economic or social class, a tyrannical majority, a religious faction…or simply the “state”).
Alexis De Tocqueville saw this scenario as a progression from “soft tyranny” to “hard tyranny,” the result being the eventual elimination of freedom and the absorption of the individual by the state, and the greatest threat to democracy.
Friends, we are approaching the boiling point, but we still have time to jump out of the pot.
We had a nice trip, a good visit and a good time in the field, but my Madison meeting was canceled. Didn’t find out until meeting time, and then only by my own efforts. It turned out I was e-mailed notice on Wednesday noon, and by that time we were already on the road. I guess nobody had my cell phone number, but that begs the question of why everyone is expected to respond to everything “just in time” today.
I imagine there are folks arranging their days and their very lives now by twittering and tweeting. Everything is supposed to be instantaneous. Frankly I think it is all a recipe for disaster, with little thinking ahead and everyone saying and doing whatever comes into their heads at the moment. I suppose I will have to get an Iphone with a thousand apps to keep up with the daily demands of what is actually a rather simple life. “I think we are all in big trouble,“ said the old man.
Speaking of big trouble, that reminds me of the frog in the pot. You remember the parable of the frog placed into a pot of warm water on the stove, which he could have easily jumped out of, but it was nice and comfortable and he did not. Then the cook turned up the heat a little bit, and a little bit more, so gradually that the lazy frog adjusted to it bit by bit, still comfortably warm and snug in the pot. Finally the water started to boil, and that was the end of the frog, as it was by then too late to jump out.
We are all frogs in the pot right now, with more and more government largess that feels pretty good, but goes from a lower to a higher intensity without our even noticing it, with greater and greater intrusions in our daily lives, with more and more laws and regulations and bureaucracy until we are finally cooked, no longer free frogs, but frogs legs on the dictator’s plate (the dictator being an individual, an economic or social class, a tyrannical majority, a religious faction…or simply the “state”).
Alexis De Tocqueville saw this scenario as a progression from “soft tyranny” to “hard tyranny,” the result being the eventual elimination of freedom and the absorption of the individual by the state, and the greatest threat to democracy.
Friends, we are approaching the boiling point, but we still have time to jump out of the pot.
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