Do the laws stop criminals?

A year and a half after the infamous raids in Blanding, are the artifact laws reducing theft? In a great article that covers a wider view of the facts than most, The Salt Lake Tribune takes a look at Blanding and the artifact trade 18 months after BLM agents descended on the town and arrested many of the upstanding citizens. Decide for yourself, and leave a comment to let others know what your view is on this. Although I do my best to leave things as I find them, I will admit to having stuck an arrowhead in my pocket while hiking, and once while fishing on the banks of the Tennessee River. Does that make me a federal felon?

“It’s like drug laws,” Spangler said ( Jerry Spangler is executive director of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance). “The minimum mandatory [drug sentences] are on the books, but it sure hasn’t stopped people from selling drugs.”

Check out the view of my European friends on "Pigeons as Pets"--a blog that always has something I find of interest...and I tend to be able answer some of the questions they put out to the public with my knowledge of 30 years around pigeons. The subject today was an interesting one on pigeon's feet and the feet of other birds. BTW, did you know pigeons and doves are the only birds that can drink with their head down?

Birds: I'm excited for the few eggs I have in the nest to hatch...experimental pairings that should be great racers...but, who can tell. My friend and fellow flyer, Tom Barnhart, in Ohio, is dealing with freezing high temperatures, reminding me why I added a heater (40 degrees) to my breeder loft. Of course, my breeder loft has no free flying birds, only individual breeding pens. I'll post pictures as soon as I have baby birds in the nest.

Honey: My favorite mead drinker broke her ankle over the holidays...official story is she was attacked by a Himalayan Yeti who heard I would pay out in mead as a ransom. Wishing a speedy recovery to her. I have the must in the bucket for the next batch, I added a quart of Blackberry concentrate from the backyard to this one.

Arch Canyon

Another one of my best less known areas has fallen to invasion by motorized traffic.  The first news that we here about it comes 7 days after the decision by BLM...

Soon, there will be no where to escape the noise and tire tracks!

The ruins in Arch Canyon when I first viewed them over 20 years ago were almost as pristine as any I had ever seen.  At that time, there was no motorized traffic in the canyon.  A recent trip to the Butler Wash area put me near enough to check in on some old haunts...no longer the same, the tranquility of the canyon was ripped wide open by the drone of OHV motors running up and down it...maybe its not so during the week, but on that Sunday morning, I was pestered by the sounds of four different groups in the three hours I was in the canyon.

I think a permit system needs to be put in place like they have done on many of the rivers, and many of the more popular hikes in National Parks. 

What a shame to loose another memory to the greed of Corporate America!