[Cdt-l] ranchers and hikers and illegals

[ks1007 at aol.com]

steady  
what an excellently written article - down here in ranching country you know some of the problems ranchers have had even before the CDT opened - illegals have been traveling through their land for years - they swim and wash up in their stock tanks - after this happens the cattle won't drink from them and the rancher has to empty the tank and clean it (that could be days to find on larger ranches) - and let it refill - each cow drinks about 20 gallons of water a day - so, if this happens the cows go without water for days - the other thing is trash - the illegals leave gallon water bottles, empty tuna cans etc etc wherever they stop - they poop wherever they want to - then along come the hikers - it's a no brainer to see why ranchers are concerned about their land - the illegals are rarely seen since they travel at night - hikers are seen since they travel in daylight - so what can the hikers do to make it easier on the ranchers? DON'T wash up in or around the stock tanks - DON'T leave any sign of having been there - DON'T leave "flower" gardens - most of the desert is loose sand/dirt so you can bury your poop and TP deep and maybe cover with a rock or branch (don't tear a branch off a live bush to do this) 
the ranchers hands are "tied" when it comes to illegals - one rancher in AZ held 20 illegals at gunpoint until border patrol arrived - he was arrested for kidnapping and now the illegals own his ranch - when illegals come across the border they are afforded the same rights as we are - only in Amerika
Keith aka el coyote
trail angel
Deming, NM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/cdt-l/attachments/20091105/4e004e66/attachment.html