Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire West of the Divide.......Water

Did you know that only about a quarter of the water a plant receives is used for growth?

The rest is lost to evaporation.

transpiration, eh?

We need to get rid of a few billion junipers here, that would certainly help get our aquifers back in some shape, and help with soil moisture during dry periods. Some sources say 40 gal per day for them sunsabishes.

probably, my focus would be on making sure our agricultural needs are met as the first priority

My Dad used to run cows up where Valsdad lives, and the photos from the '20's and '30's show that Junipers were not that plentiful back then, pines were a hundred yards apart. I wonder if the oldtimers and the Injuns kept the rangeland healthy by annual burning in the fall...or the result of over enthusiastic fire suppression hadn't started to show it's downside yet? In any case, we are sure paying the penalty for bad policy now. We have 4 seasons here now, fall, winter, spring and fire.

I had a 6 month job in K Falls in the summer of '98, but was a resident of Cali still so I put in for a tag in the Shasta, Tulelake, Tionesta area (X1 now, not sure about back then) and was lucky enough to draw. I hunted around Tionesta/Lava Beds NN a few days. When I moved back this way in 2016 I was stunned at all the 6'-10' junipers covering areas that were open grassland/sagebrush when I was here in '98.

So yeah, I have a sneaky suspicion different human behaviors have had some effect on things like that juniper intrusion that's happening now.

Wish we could send some out to the west. We are 10 inches above normal just for the month of April.(that's what she said)


Clyde

Chicken of the Sea


Clyde

Modoc and Lassen and Washoe had a helluva drought back from 1928 to around 1935, little cow and sheep outfits were desperate for grass and water. The little guys had to push their cows continually for years, across other peoples land, government land, keep 'em moving. Big outfits were screaming bloody murder over 'trespass' to the county sheriffs, Forest Service and BLM agents were tearing their hair out trying to keep the grass thieves under control...it was a mess, with hot tempers, fences cut, guns pointed, threats made and received, some arson charged but never proved, bad bitter times. He often said of that time, "We thought the drought would never end, I looked for a buyer, but there weren't any, so I had no decision to make, had to keep going no matter how hopeless it looked".

Kinda like a cross between a spotted owl and a desert tortise.

The Great Lakes pass leisurely past your door?
You live on a boat?

U.S. EPA
Facts and Figures about the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are, from west to east: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. They are a dominant part of the physical and cultural heritage of North America.

Shared with Canada and spanning more than 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from west to east, these vast inland freshwater seas provide water for consumption, transportation, power, recreation and a host of other uses.

The Great Lakes are one of the world’s largest surface freshwater ecosystems.

84% of North America's surface fresh water
about 21% of the world's supply of surface fresh water

Ever hear that lakes have shores?

Duh!

Might need some flown in from Lake Superior when the verdict is announced. I wonder if the air tankers have been staged.

84%? I didn't know it was quite that high.

21% of the world's water?

Whatever it is, it's more than the 10 western states combined. It all flows East out the St.Lawrence River. It has nothing to do with the Oglala Aquifier, which is declining.

The Romans longest aqueduct was around 310 miles long serving Constantinople. They had it figured 700 years ago, you'd think we could figure it out today.

I’d love to have a year with below average rainfall. Nothing but rain for 2 1/2 years.