The Texana Review

Wildcat wildfire visits Butterfield Canyon Ranch, Coke County, Texas - April 2011

In a previous post, I reported on the Wildcat Fire and included photos and a short video of the devastation the fire caused. Here, I've finally compiled some video I took of the event from April 14 and April 15 showing what I saw while the fire raged and firefighters did what they could to contain the conflagration.

On April 14, 2011, the infamous Wildcat wildfire roared into Coke County, Texas from the north and northwest and then into Tom Green County threatening the City of San Angelo. Then, the next day, winds shifted and blew the fire back from the south. Winds gusted 30-40 mph.

The Butterfield Canyon Ranch, belonging to my family, was in the middle of it all.

Here are some scenes I caught on video.

And many thanks to the Texas Forest Service firefighters and all other volunteer firefighters who fought this devastating wildfire.

 

 

The Wildcat wildfire burned for weeks and destroyed an estimated 159,000+ acres.

 

(Music by Rob Costlow)

After The Wildcat Fire in Coke County, Texas

As many of you know, my family owns some west Texas property near the town of Robert Lee, Texas.  Last week, a wildfire started on 66 acres northwest of the property as a result of a lightning strike during a whiff of a thunderstorm.  The Texas Forest Service and local firefighters thought they had the fire contained.  Unfortunately, they didn’t.

Thursday night, April 14, strong northwest winds whipped the wildfire and, given the extreme drought conditions the state has endured for many, many months, it bolted southeastward toward us and our neighbors.

This is butte and mesa territory which makes fighting a wildfire like this one near impossible and very dangerous.

Firefighters from as far as California showed up to to help local firefighters fight the burgeoning blaze through Thursday night and Friday morning when the wind suddenly dropped to a lazy breeze.

However, the wildfire overtook the family property and the properties of surrounding neighbors burning everything in its path and spreading to tens of thousands of acres.

Firefighters barely had time to catch their breath when winds shifted to the south and southwest turning the wildfire (now dubbed The Wildcat Fire by the Texas Forest Service) back on itself.  Winds gusted to 40 miles-per-hour and The Wildcat Fire came back to burn all that that it hadn’t burned before.

The family property got it twice, as did our neighbors.

Last report was that The Wildcat Fire was moving northeasterly and had consumed upwards of 130,000 acres.

Here are a couple of links to some amateur photos and video of The Wildcat Fire damage to my family property.

Photos –> HERE

Short video –> HERE

 

Technorati Tags: Texana Review,Ed Blackburn,Texas,fire,wildfire,Wildcat Fire

Remembrance Day 2009

Here's a small tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I can enjoy a Memorial Day holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A tea party in San Angelo, Texas...

I've been curious about the divisiveness that this nation has been experiencing since the election last year.

A divisiveness, I have observed, that began during the previous Administration.

On April 15th last week, people organized "tea parties" across the nation to express their concern over the direction the new Administration is taking on spending, taxation and a slew of other issues. 

I live in San Angelo, Texas.

We had a "tea party" here.

Attendees seemed to be divided along the two traditional party lines - Republican and Democrat (although there was at least one avowed Libertarian in the group).

I took some pictures of the gathering.

Here they are.

 

Technorati Tags: Texana Review,Ed Blackburn,tea party,taxes

Wildcatting for Wind - Part Two of Four

Here's Part Two of Wildcatting for Wind, sponsored by Texana Talk and Higginbotham Brothers.

Watch ...

Seven minutes, thirty-five seconds

in Quicktime...

(two minutes-ish to start streaming)

in Windows Media Player...

(30 seconds-ish to start streaming)

 

Excerpt taken from:

“Wildcatting for Wind: The Texas Experience from Turbine to Market”
Produced by The University of Texas School of Law
Full DVD can be purchased at www.utcle.org

 

next years’ conference: 

2010 Wind Energy Institute
February 2-4, 2010
Austin Convention Center

 

Technorati Tags: Texana Review,Ed Blackburn,Texas,alternative energy,Wind energy,wind power

 

Wind Energy's Impact on Land Value: an interview with Jim Blackburn

Jim Blackburn is an environmental lawyer who lives in the Houston area.

Deep down, he has a dedication and commitment to the environment that started at an early age.

Educationally, he started out in History, taking a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas in that subject.

He then followed up with a law degree from the same institution and then a Masters of Science in Environmental Science from Rice University, where he is now a professor and lecturer in Environmental Law.

He’s the recipient of a goodly number of awards and recognition for his work as an environmental advocate, and when I asked him to participate in this series, he said:

"I’m just an environmental lawyer!"

I replied, "Yes, that’s true but your opinion matters to my listeners on this subject."

Listen...

17 minutes

Music by Torchmatic under Creative Commons License Podshow Podsafe Music Network

 

Sponsored by

and

 

 

Technorati Tags: Texana Review,Texas,Wind Energy,Ed Blackburn,Rural Texas,Rural Living,Alternative Energy

Will Howard: becoming a less well-kept secret on Texana

Will Howard is the former overseer of the Texas Room at the Houston Public Library.

Beside being a librarian, he's also a preacher and a teacher, but mostly he's a Texas bibliographer, of immense proportion.

These days, he produces Will’s Texana Monthly, an email newsletter meticulously cataloged and jam-packed with Texana, and the Texas Parlor, a weblog about various persons, books, weblogs, events and media of all sorts and anything else that smacks of Texas.

Not only has he a voice of rich timbre and resonance, he also has a deep passion and reverence for things of Texas.

If you don’t know about his work yet, listen to our chat and learn what you’ve been missing.

 

Listen...
20:00 minutes
Music by Ken Tucker & James Swafford under Creative Commons License
Subscribe to Will's Texana Monthly -> HERE

T. Boone Pickens is back ...and he has a Plan

T. Boone Pickens is a smart entrepreneur.

Beyond that, he's one smart cookie, and he doesn't shy away from controversy

He says he has an energy plan for America; a plan with heavy emphasis on wind energy.

And he's started a very aggressive media campaign.  What he has to say makes a lot of sense.

Watch what he has to say in this segment...

4:49 minutes

Watch...

(depending on your computer equipment and Internet connection, this video may load more or less rapidly, but it will load)

 

For more video podcast entries (they're three prior ones), visit PickensPlan, Boone's Video Blog

 

Technorati Tags: Texana Review,TexanaTV,Ed Blackburn,T. Boone Pickens,energy,alternative energy,wind energy

Trans-Texas Corridor: a chat with Dan Hatfield

The Trans Texas Corridor is causing a growing stir among Texans these days, especially among landowners in the path of, or neighboring the path of, the proposed TTC.

The Corridor is a part of a much larger transportation plan for the Americas; but for right now, tempers are simmering on both sides of the issue in Texas.

Dan Hatfield is a rural land broker, and Realtor and is active in and the following of what’s happening in Texas politics, especially when it involves rural land.

He and I chatted about the Trans Texas Corridor recently…

Listen...
17:47 minutes
Music by Jim Fidler under Creative Commons License Podshow Podsafe Music Network

Helpful links:

Keep Texas Moving; Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)

Corridor Watch

Public Roads: Federal Highway Administration (old, but informative)

Trans-Texas Corridor: Wikipedia's take on it

Office of the Governor: Trans Texas Corridor

 

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Trans-Texas Corridor: A Public-Private Effort

While the ultimate impact of the building of the Trans-Texas Corridor will fall primarily upon the Texas landowner and taxpayer ...and eventually, as the trans-Texas traveler, HOW the whole process is overseen and financed is of importance, not only to Texans but also to North, Central and South America.

There are many examples of public-private efforts in the United States that are successful, and there are a goodly number that aren't.

We'll get into more of the details later.

Here's another offering from the Texas Department of Transportation - in this instance, promoting the public-private arrangement for the eventuality of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

You, as a Texan, regardless of locale, need to pay attention to this issue; investigate its impact on you and your family, your neighbors, the State of Texas, and finally, the United States in which we live.

Why?

Because we live in a considerably different world than we did just ten years ago.

 

3:00 minutes

Your Comments are welcome; see below.

 

(Click once to activate, again to play. Double click on screen to enlarge)

 

Video copyright: Texas Department of Transportation. Heads-up by TexanaTV

 

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