Crying Wolf
I feel Larry Lightner went over the top again with his opinion of treating Mexican wolves like "any other predator" ("Ramblin' Outdoors," February 2007). As an endangered species, the numbers just aren't there and won't be for a long time.
I do sympathize with the Millers on the loss of their much-loved horse and appreciate how they are striving hard to play by the rules.
Unfortunately, there are others who cannot be trusted. Those—a minority, I hope, and some of the most vocal—would exaggerate an incident, or outright lie to gain control and a chance to kill wolves.
I wouldn't consider taking my dog, Rocky Blue, to known wolf territory. That's when he's boarded.
I've always headed for the Gila Forest and mountains with dogs for companions, prior to wolf reintroduction. I've had large dogs tangle with a cougar, chase a bobcat in the Black Range, be chased by javelinas, and almost get rattlesnake bit. I never carried a weapon. I'd just yell, "Don't bring that thing over here!"
At some point we must ACCEPT RESPONIBILITY for where we take our canine friends and what happens to them. We are visitors only where wildlife live.
Choices must be made, depending on how well-trained and obedient our dogs are. My Blue, a free-thinker, is out of luck. After going missing from the C/D Trail for 26 hours last July, he'll only be off-leash at the doggie park.
Sharon Morgan
Silver City
The Larry Lightner column in your February edition strikes me as yet another smokescreen for the anti-wolf paranoia that rules in rural Southwest New Mexico. Surely Mr. Lightner and the outfitter who lost a horse to the wolves, being veteran outdoorsmen and owners of guns, are aware of air rifles. While shooting at a wolf with "deadly force" is prohibited, popping one with an air rifle is not. There is no chance that a hit from an air rifle would kill a wolf, but it would sting one quite smartly. While I have never had the occasion to try this on a wolf, I am confident that if one is popped a couple of times it would be sufficiently discouraged to leave a dog alone or vacate an area where it is not wanted. Certainly this strategy is worth trying if the lives of pets and livestock are at stake.
Air rifles come in velocities which range from 200 to over 1,000 feet per second (fps). Included in the arsenal are pistols and rifles, some powered by CO2 cartridges, some by springs, some by pumping air into the chamber for each shot. Most are single-shot but some are repeaters. Calibers range from .17 to .22. A hit from a .22 caliber pellet traveling at 1,000 fps can kill a skunk, squirrel, rabbit, etc. but not a large animal like a wolf. A hit from a more moderate charge, say 300 fps, is quite effective in running off unwanted varmints and other trespassing animals without endangering their lives.
Long live the lobos, and common sense.
Gerry Storm
Gila
Editor's note: For more non-lethal ideas to protect against wolves, see Larry Lightner's column in this issue.
Thanks for carrying "Ramblin' Outdoors" by Larry Lightner. I find that he has a great talent for writing "in the trenches" where outdoor-type people are. It takes a lot of feeling and understanding of the outdoor/backwoods person's emotions to write a column that makes sense and serves a purpose.
Especially I appreciated his willingness to take on issues like the wolf.
It's nice to get so much good writing in a free paper. Keep the good writers writing.
Vic Topmiller Jr.
Silver City
Protecting the Fort
"Reconciliation City"! Tom Gibbons' February letter about Ft. Bayard and the one following by Craig Merz are good examples of why idealism needs to be leavened with reality, practicality and common sense.
Fort Bayard is a National Historic Landmark, named after one of its historic commanders whose name (I have been told by former old-timer Helen Lynch) is properly pronounced "By-ard." Any use which is made of the fort should be compatible with the Landmark designation and its particular identity as an early Western military fort. Gibbons states that understanding of the fort's role in establishing "dominance" does not seem to be understood in the present. Good grief, how could it NOT be? Terrible things occurred on both sides, and we are very fortunate that the Apaches still survive as a people.
Craig Merz would like the Fort Bayard bungalows sold with their asbestos and low-income families moved into the elegant, extraordinary, deteriorating officers' homes. Even if legal, and I doubt it is, selling asbestos-polluted homes to people willing to take the risk would not protect later buyers. And Merz must not be aware of the disasters which concentrations of low-income people have become in more than one locale.
It remains for the museum at the fort to make "a clear statement today about what happened then." If we wish "to make a choice that reflects compassion, love and reconciliation," we can get busy helping one of the many social-service organizations struggling to assist Native Americans in every part of the US. There is an excellent one in Gallup which has a number of self-help programs. Assisting the local annual PowWow, attended by a number of Mescalero Apaches, is also a way to contribute. Joe Saenz should be honored by Grant County for his work in bringing this wonderful event of joy and reconciliation to us.
Helen I. Francis
Silver City
Your February issue of Desert Exposure was excellent. All of your publications are extremely informative and beneficial to our community. I was particularly pleased with your featured article about Fort Bayard ("Past as Prologue," January 2007). My husband, Dale Giese, and I were instrumental in founding the Fort Bayard Historical Preservation Society about five years ago. It has been an uphill battle to bring awareness of Fort Bayard's historical importance to our community.
Many thanks for your support. We are keeping our "eyes on the prize"!
Jeannette Giese
Silver City
Tax Talk
I have a list of 11 Spaceports in the US. Note that only one is proposing to use the unfair and inequitable gross receipts tax to finance a Spaceport ("Editor's Note," February 2007). That is Dona Ana County. Dona Ana residents should vote against this tax on April 3. It will be a real burden on our lower-income residents and those people on fixed incomes. The tax should be statewide since it will benefit all New Mexico.
Greg Lennes
Las Cruces
I just got time to read your editorial about gross receipts taxes. I have been impressed with your research in other articles and was surprised to find you missed a point in the application of taxes.
Contractors, manufacturers, retailers and others who buy materials for resale in one form or another do not have to pay gross receipts taxes IF they get non-taxable transaction certificates (NTTC) from the Taxation and Revenue Department. What surprises me are the numbers of people in business who refuse to take that step and they are the ones to blame for much of the pyramiding of taxes. I have been involved in construction in one way or another for too many years to count, and we always issue the NTTCs to businesses we buy from so we don't have to pay the tax on materials we resell. Sometimes we even remind businesses that our items are for resale, and the tax is not charged.
When a subcontractor installs a septic tank, puts in leach rock and digs the ditches, the hole for the tank, etc., his labor is also non-taxable if he is doing it for another contractor. So again, in construction, labor can be non-taxable if it is for resale. Each of these (materials and labor) require separate NTTCs. But you are right about accounting and legal services, ads, office supplies, etc. that are not part of cost of goods sold being taxable.
There is detailed information at the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Web site (www.tax.state.nm.us), and I would also be glad to assist anyone who has questions. The SBDC just had a gross receipts tax workshop and only five community people attended.
Judy Ward, Business Advisor
Small Business Development Center
Silver City
www.nmsbdc.org/silvercity
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