Audubon Magazine, the Society’s bi-monthly publication, recently ran photographs from an assignment I shot for them in early September. The project focused on the Haverfield family and their struggles with the county in which their cattle ranch sits. The family has been embroiled in a long-running war over the presence of prairie dogs on their ranch. They are part of growing group of cattle ranchers that are pro-prairie dog. They believe that prairie dogs contribute to increased biodiversity on their property, enabling them to graze their cattle in a fashion that mimics the movement and grazing patterns of pre-settlement buffalo. Healthier grazing plots mean increased productivity. But that, according to the Haverfields, requires the help of prairie dogs.
Needless to say, they are not exactly the most popular people in old school western Kansas. The county, particularly county commissioner Carl Ulrich, contends that prairie dogs are a nuisance and should be eradicated. Many of the Haverfields’ neighbors feel the same way. In recent years, the county has exterminated prairie dogs from the Haverfield property using a number of methods, including gas and poison, before sending them the bill. The Haverfields have discovered a number of ’secondary kill’ animals, carcasses of birds and mammals that have eaten the poisoned prairie dogs and subsequently been killed themselves. Complicating matters, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has recently re-introduced endangered black footed ferrets onto the land, a natural predator of the prairie dogs. This move has heightened tensions between neighbors and led to a series of legal maneuvers on both sides to control the spread of the prairie dogs as well as the ferrets.
Ted Williams, Audubon Magazine’s writer for the piece, explains the situation in detail on the magazine’s site. Particularly troubling is the county’s choice to use the highly controversial poison, Rozol, in their pursuit of a scorched-earth approach to prairie dogs. The article is available here. Get a cup of coffee for this one. It’s worth the read.
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It’s six hours from Denver to the Comanche National Grasslands. Eight or ten or something like that if you drive without purpose. I stopped counting at dark. Denver to Trinidad, Trinidad east on dirt county roads for another 100 miles. Doesn’t seem like much from eye level, but if you take it slow, the flat Colorado plains share smaller secrets, a hidden landscape in negative relief, canyons that slice the land in such a way that they’re almost imperceptible until you’re balanced right at the edge. It’s the third deer hunt I’ve photographed in the last 12 months, the second one with friends of mine who make this trip every year. A little bit about the deer, a little more about getting out and slowing down for a week. Life always waits just up the highway, no need to rush it along. It’s always there when you get back.
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It’s been a few years since I photographed Bobby Tan removing glass from his eyebrow with butter knives. A little time has come and gone, but the same enthusiasm and intensity that motivated the butter knife incident are still definitely intact. Went over to his place a couple weeks ago to look through some of his art, mostly drawings and collage-mash books, all projects that have been consuming hours of his time each day. He’s got a little corner set up in his house, a set of pens, and has been churning out work for several months now. It’s quite a stack of stuff that really speaks to the time and energy he’s putting into it. Pretty impressed by his trajectory and definitely a fan of the work. Stepped out for a few minutes to catch his opening tonight at Double Daughters in downtown Denver. Figured I’d post this for today and put the hunt images off until tomorrow.
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Got home from photographing a deer hunt yesterday afternoon, caught the second game of the World Series at a sushi place and then detoured to Glob for a benefit Halloween show. Strange how quick you can go from Oklahoma border to sushi and hipster Halloween haunts, but I kinda enjoy the edges of the spectrum. Snapped a few filler pictures at Glob, listened to a little music and called it a night. Uneventful Halloween except for the bastard kids that cleaned out twelve pounds of candy that I left in a bucket on my front porch. The doorbell broke a few weeks ago so I figured that the best strategy was to put the candy out. I know that plan would have spelled sure fire failure if it was 12 pounds of chocolate, but the bag of candy that I had on hand was the cheapo bag of smarties and suckers and dried bubble gum. You’d be hard pressed to eat 12 pounds of it in a decade. Stealing the whole bucket, in my mind, would have been like shoplifting a tub of lard. Far be it from me to underestimate the power of free stuff. Cleaned out of candy in ten minutes.
Hunt pictures to follow tomorrow.
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