This weekend I went on one of those family trip things, it was a fathers day gift of sorts. We went and stayed at Cades Cove in The Great Smoky Mtns. National Park. There was a lot of biking and hiking going on there. While on one of the hiking trails there we met quite a few people, and every now and again I would stop and get into conversations with them. I was suprised to see how much they don't actually know about nature, but how much they are from saving it. Suprised to find out that my sister is one of the un-informed. I spent a lot of time talking to people and getting them to realize there is a reason they are called smoky mtns, and it wasn't because of air pollution as almost all of them said it was. Also it was hard for them to realize how high up they actually were in some places, because they blamed the same air pollution and acid rain for all the dead trees they were seeing, instead of thinking that they were at that height were from late fall to early spring no sunlight hits the plants because of snow, and they didn't get the thinner air thing at all, guess they never seen the rockies or any other mountain range for that matter. Some people didn't believe there were no trees above a certain altitude on those mountains.

Just thought I would share these interesting observations. Kinda neat to find out that the greens are trying to save nature from, well, itself. They had excuses for everything, and either me or someone else who would join in the conversations would have a truthful answer for them to prove them wrong. The only real complaints I agreed with them on were litter, noise level, trespassing, and some unnecesary land destruction. I hate seeing litter on a trail, when I"m trying to sleep at night I hate getting woke up by a loud quad. There are times I get aggrevated with letting people ride on my land, when they start destroying and doing more damage than they should, it does cause errosion problems at times and I have to shut the gate on them until some plantlife grows back. I understand why other land owners sometimes don't want others messing things up.

Ok I'm done.

 

I hope you're joking about people that thought the Smokies are called that because of pollution.
That's about the most ignorant thing I've ever heard. I hope you educated some of them.
The Smokies are a beautiful place. I like the fall myself when the leaves are turning.

 

Why are you so suprised? It is easy to see why they believe and know as little as they do. They only look at things from one side. Theirs.....Funny thing is since I have been in college I have met many tree huggers that are against killing anything, etc. etc....yet wear leather shoes etc. etc.... That's fine with me, they can keep passing those laws, it all comes back to get them sooner or later. When they put so much pressure that someday there is no meat, water, veggies and basically no grocery stores for them to shop at. I won't be the one starving[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] They have NO CLUE where things come from. Growing up in Ranch and Farming country in Nebraska was the best thing that ever happened to me. I think all City kids should learn how to pull a calf, do brandings, ride in a tractor with 100 Plus heat with hay dust blowing in your face for 13hours. I'll bet they would learn to apprieciate what they buy in the store a bit more.

Later,
Scott Monroe

 

I dunno. It just goes to show how gullible people really are. They believe what anyone on TV or standing beside them in a supermarket tells them. I kid you not about actually having someone tell me the Smokies are smoky because of air pollution. Actually it was more like, the view would be so much nicer if all that air pollution wasn't there making the white haze over the mountains over there. Thats when the conversation got started, some people are actually goofy enough to belive the weirdo behind them at the check out saying air pollution than put the name SMOKEY Mountains together. It was at a place called Clingman's Dome, it was a half mile hike up a paved trail so any goofball coulda made it up there that hadn't a clue what they were talking about. Just suprised me people can't put 2 and 2 together anymore on their own, they have to listen to what other people tell them on the news shows, and radios that the environmentalist obviously have a lot of power over. Not everything could be as bad for the environment as the media puts on, if it was we would all have been dead 50 years ago, or at least around the turn of the century with the industrial revolution and all its pollution.

 

Alaskaweasel:
Where in Nebraska are you originally from?? I am about 80 miles NW of Grand Island (more North than West).
I hear you about people thinking that if they need more of something they wonder why it doesn't just appear in the 'magic' grocery store.
The schools aren't doing the worlds best job getting out well-balanced students, either. I was cutting brush & some scrub cedar trees one day (still a lot to go, but that is a different story) to clear the pasture, and my nephew (a straight-A student in the 'city') was upset at me. He said how will we be able to breathe without those trees giving us oxygen. I asked where oxygen came from beofre the trees came in (Nebraska, part of the 'Great American Desert'), and noted that grass gives off oxygen anyway. He said not according to his science teacher. I told him to have his science teacher give me a call & I will explain that grass does produce oxygen, as does corn, wheat, etc. The next time I saw my nephew (he lives quite a ways away) he said his teacher meant that trees were BEST at giving off oxygen, he didn't mean it in the way that nothing else did...but to a 13 yr old kid...how are they to know the difference if no one explains things to them.

OK I am off my soapbox now...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

Originally from Valentine Nebraska. All my relation are Ranchers in Nenzel/Mullen area. I worked with them in the summer since I was in 8th grad until I left for college. I will tell you this, the summers were bad enough, and that isn't even their busy season compared to calving....LOL We lived there for over 20years and about 7 years ago the parents moved to Alaska. Me and the wife moved about 2years ago. Here is a good one for you. At UNL I was taking a Sociology and the Environment class. My teacher the HEAD of the Sociology dept. was telling everyone one day in class that if all the farmers and ranchers would stop feeding the cattle corn that there would be no starving people anywhere. Then I proceeded to ask him that if all the cattle were feed only corn, what was the point of most Ranchers/Farmers to own such vast acerages of land? He didn't know that most if not all cattle are only feed corn when they go to market or for personal beefs for the Ranch. HOW SAD[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] The other funny one from the great UNL was I had a greenie in one of my classes and she didn't know that milk came from a COW! I swear when asked she said the store. I knew then that there are some really misguided kids, even in the heart of ag country. Scary!

 

It is funny how totally urbanized people have become. I planted a garden with some potatoes and onions, and my wife views them with suspicion. Everytime I start cooking some she asks "are you sure they're alright?" Without that plastic bag sealed around them, she just doesn't feel secure.

How about the people who want to add ethanol to gas because its ecologically more desirable than oil sources. OK, it may be a good idea for lots of reasons (like we don't grow it in a war zone), but I'll bet that you farmers can list a dozen chemicals needed to bring in a corn crop -- not to mention fuels, transport, storage, wind erosion, and other environmental costs. People think you just spread seeds on the ground like Johnny Appleseed and, ta da, you get perfect crops.

Also, lets get back to the whole cattle feed thing. If the land that cattle grazed on was good for crops -- i.e. economically feasible -- then people would grow crops on it. This may not hold true for 3rd world areas where people get moved off small farms to make way for export beef herds (known as the McDonalds factor). But in the US, cattle make use of land that's generally not much good for much else.

The schools ought to make everyone read one copy of Successful Farming or Progressive Farmer cover to cover and then discuss it. Most people have no idea what is going on at the base of the foodchain.

End of screed.

Dr. Rod -- the keeper of the truth

 

I know exactly how you feel. The really worst part of things like you described is this. When you grow your own, raise your own, etc. etc. there is pride, work, effort, and most important a sense of care that goes into your mouth. In other words if people simply knew where and what goes into getting these products they take advantage of then and only then they might apprieciate them a bit more. If you read my first post I find it so true even though I wrote it, but when people from the huge metro's get their way and the Rancher can't hay is OWN land (due to some bird nest,,,no joke either, or QUOTE wet lands) or graze cattle or grow crops what then? I mean it is amazing to see greenies faces when you throw this at them. "Who do you think knows more and cares more about the land. A scientist that comes from the city for a week and does studies or the people that are 3rd and some 4th generation Ranchers/Farmers whoes lively hood depends on their land?" It's amazing how many dumb looks you get, like "oh, i never thought of that"....FUNNY isn't it. One more example and farmr123 has probably heard of this. My uncles ranch borders Ted Turners Buffaloe preserve in the Nebraska Sandhills. When he moved in he hired EXPERTS to let him know how to re introduce the Buffalo. Well they said to put one large upon prarie around 136,000 acres I believe wide open besides where they bordered other Ranches. So when the Ranchers in the area told Ted and his hands that all they would do is ruin the land and cause massive blowouts they didn't listen. Well less than 3 years passed and Buffalo have a nasty habit....they find the two richest sources of grass and will only eat it until it's gone and then go to the next richest area. Well they ate the ground so thin when people would fly over there were huge blowouts and ruined grasslands in the Sandhills..They don't just grow back either. They now do as the Ranchers in the area originally told them to do, put fences in and quarter their land to rotate the Buffalo around. In other words let them eat the ground so far and then put them in a new pasture and by doing this by the time they run out of pastures the first one is regrown. WOW, THAT WAS ROCKET SCIENCE....So much for experts.

I'll jump off my soapbox to now!

Scott

 

I am personally getting really tired of the people who support the whacko greens. Yes, we all need to do our part to keep the trails clean and keep noise pollution down. But last weekend I went to Pismo Beach in California. It is the only state park which you can ride on the beach in Ca. Of the thousands of miles of coast line we have we Californians have 3 1/2 miles of riding area available to us. The greens are dumping in hundreds of thousands of dollars to shut it down. The greens also got an injunction to keep people from KITE flying. Yes, I said KITE flying. Now the best place for kids to fly a KITE, the beach, is illegal. It seems the greens think a certain bird thinks the kite is a predator. I am hoping I get a ticket for flying my AMERICAN FLAG!!!!! After I get a ticket I am going to ask who to sue over my civil rights![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

I swear. Greenies are stupid. They have no real facts about us ATVers, but want to attack and prevent us from having open trails. I guess they're all a bunch of city-slickers that have been pumped full of this enviromental crap from day one.

Dr. Rod,

My school does have magazines such as: Progressive Farmer and New Horizons. This area is FFA country, and everyone hunts, fishes, and farms. Thank the Lord! I'm sorry, but I'm getting sick of the whole greenie crap, and urban-sprawl and everything. Pretty soon, we're not going to have any land to ride or hunt on. It pisses me off.

I just felt like venting, and this was the right place to do it.