Is This Owl Forcing Historic Tombstone, AZ to Fix Water Lines With ‘Horses and Handtools’?
- Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:36pm by
Liz Klimas
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- Tombstone, Ariz., city officials have been battling for months to make repairs to water lines that fall within federal land.
- A 1964 law bans use of heavy equipment on the land, so residents are forced to use shovels and other hand tools to make the repairs.
- There are also reports of a nesting pair of Mexican spotted owls — a threatened species — which have some worried, although federal officials say the owl’s presence doesn’t affect the work being done.
- The city has filed an appeal, which was rejected by the Supreme Court, against the government to make the necessary repairs and ensure the water supply for its more than 1,500 residents.
- The water lines were damaged during last year’s wildfires and floods.
It took months of asking for permission, a lawsuit and even discussion over a federally protected animal before the residents of Tombstone, Ariz., could begin to make some long-overdue repairs to their water line system that supplies more than 1,500 people. And even after all that, the government says the residents can‘t even use the necessary heavy machinery to secure their town’s water supply. But why?
According to the Green Valley News and Sun, more than 100 Tombstone residents were recently given permission from the U.S. Forest Service to bring in their own shovels and given until 8 p.m. on Saturday to perform work on the water lines, parts of which were damaged during forest fires and flooding last year. City Manager George Barnes explained that even in such a short amount of time, the residents could be helping prevent the spring from washing away when monsoon season comes, which was highly likely without the fix:
“If we can protect this water line with what we’ve got, then that’s wonderful,” Barnes said of the weekend’s repairs.
So why all the red tape to make necessary repairs to a water line vital for town residents? And why are residents providing volunteer manual labor to fix the lines and not machinery? As “Fox & Friends” explains, the mandate for use of only “horses and handtools” came down to the potential presence of Mexican spotted owls in the area, a threatened species, and a law banning the use of heavy equipment on the federal land.
Federal officials say the presence of spotted owls is not holding up work. The town officials don't have permission to bring on heavy machinery to the land due to a 1964 law. (Photo via Cronkite News)
Nick Dranias with the Goldwater Institute — which is representing the town in their lawsuit against the government — said there are huge boulders, steel pipes wrapped around trees, and feet of mud that the residents have to tackle using only their own elbow grease.
Watch the report:
Here is some of Goldwater’s May 29 statement for an injunction pending appeal of the prior U.S. District Court decision not allowing machinery:
This is not how decent human beings treat each other. It is not how federal law requires Defendants to behave. It is not how federal officers must treat a political subdivision of the State of Arizona under the Tenth Amendment. For these reasons, Tombstone’s entitlement to an injunction is indisputably clear.
[...]
Denying Tombstone the ability to fully restore its municipal water system thus threatens not only Tombstone, but the entire region because the system is needed for wildfire suppression efforts—as ironically evidenced by the Forest Service’s own use of the system during the Monument Fire.
Map of where the Tombstone water lines are located. (Image: U.S. Forest Service)
According to Cronkite News Online, Coronado National Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch said the spotted owl is “not the reason why we’re not allowing Tombstone to do anything.” He said, “The main point is that Tombstone has access to the water they had before the fire.”
Still, Cronkite News reports city officials have “not provided sufficient detail” that would allow the use of machinery on this federally protected land. A law from 1964 prevents heavy equipment. With a special permit for the work, they are limited to more manual forms of labor and in the 100 degree heat only about 75 of the 100 volunteers were able to make it to the work site on Saturday. Harv Twite, a member of what’s being called the Tombstone Shovel Brigade, said another work session is being planned for October when the temperatures are cooler.
Others are looking to what is happening in Tombstone as a “cautionary tale.” Mesquite, Nev., for example, has environmental groups hoping to turn “a large swath of the Gold Butte desert region” into conservation land, according to The Mesquite Citizen. Under the land is enough water to supply more than 5,000 homes. Even though the city would still hold the water rights should the proposal for protected land go through, as Tombstone is experiencing, “it may not matter” the Mesquite Citizen writes.
The Green Valley News and Sun reported that Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Mesa) gave a testimony Friday supporting his “Emergency Water Supply Restoration Act,“ which would allow all local jurisdictions to ”get a water source to where it was before, and that that trumps everything else.“ ”The health and safety of the citizens is paramount,” he said.
Watch his testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee:
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Comments (101)
Meyvn
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:45pmI doubt they bother the owls. If they’re worried about it bring it some fresh (slightly disabled) field mice with each shift.
Report Post »LetUsReason
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 6:44pmMexican Spotted Owl for President!! Shoot, now we have to figure out what side of the border they were born on.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 8:04pmSocialist PROGRESS in Action… leading us back to the Caves!
ChillyinAlaska
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 8:55pmWhat do you want to bet they were brought in and “planted” by federal employees? It’s been done over and over by Forest Service and BLM employees who are anti-human.
Report Post »nativetexanne
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:41pmIf one of the owls gives birth, it will look like BHO.
Report Post »LetUsReason
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 6:45pmI don’t know what it is, but I would love to press my face into one of those owls….they look so soft and snuggly!
Report Post »AzThunder
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:06pm@nativetexanne
I don’t know, but the owl’s “crap” looks like obummer
Report Post »thx1138v2
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 9:03pm@LetUsReason
Take a look at this and see if you want those claws in your face. That‘s about what you’ll get. Owls really, really, don’t like people. Watch all the way to the end.
SlowMo
Report Post »G-WHIZ
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:52amO M G !! EEEEEEEEeeeeEEEaaaAAAAAAAAAHH!!!
Report Post »LetUsReason
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 12:27pmHmm….point taken. Yikes!
Report Post »Mr.Fitnah
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:36pmThis is what you get when you keep grow giant bureaucracies nameless faceless lunatics who cannot be brought to yield to rational.
Report Post »Wolf
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 6:28pmThis is what happens when Americans let themselves be controlled by tree huggers and people like the Sierra Club, Friends of Animals, Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, et al.
Report Post »Mr.Fitnah
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:54pmOne set of nuts files the laws suits, the corrupt legal system requires the congress to fix it , and the bureaucratic leviathan jump to crush the people. Time for the people to push back.
Report Post »crcitizen
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:30pmthis is how absurd America has become. do away with the EPA
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 6:10pmyes those tax paying owls…wait a minute we pay taxes to have lunatics like these prioritize mexican owls over people’s basic need of water. time to stop funding these jerks.
Report Post »elosogrande
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:29pmThe incompetence of the typical federal bureaucrat is overshadowed by his or her stupidity. We have allowed fools to take over the government and our country.
Vote out all of our elected officials in November and demand that their replacements fire all inept federal, state and local employees as quickly as they can replace them – all of them!
Report Post »TurboCat
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 2:46amBut there are a handful of decent people in Congress. All they need from us is reinforcements. Lots of reinforcements.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:29pmwhat tree-hugging communist decided on NO heavy equipment usage ever. how ignorant. those stupid birds CAN FLY, any commie tree-hugging PETA moron ever think of THAT?
Report Post »Mercury7
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:16pmThats the whole trouble with enviro-nuts, or liberals in general. They don’t think, they FEEL!! or they let their Gurus think for them.
Report Post »deadend
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:12pmdon’t worry, soon we will all be working like that. Fossil fuels will be band, no karesine for lamps and don’t light a fire that will put carbon in the air. Ops there is a rare bread of cockroach watch were you step.
Report Post »Madmilo
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:46pmDude, Really, learn to spell
Report Post »Yuuperguy
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 8:31pmThis isn’t a quiz. As long as the idea is valid, spelling is optional.
Report Post »possom
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:09pmJust another good example of why we need to get the gov outta our business!
Report Post »Landon410
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:07pmfixing this water line would be for the general welfare of the people, but these ******** wont help
Report Post »HKS
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:06pmHow about dem gub-ment rules, is this a great country or what?
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:47pmMakes me want to be an owl. Or at least something other than a white male.
Report Post »cielorojo
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:56pmThank you for putting this important news on the blaze.
Report Post »Burros have more rights here in AZ than human beings, just ask Raul Grijalva.
and for those who would like to know more about the border here is a website that has a video about our big problem. Please support the truth. http://www.theycometoamerica.com/
You will find out that the border is no secure like Obama and Jannet Napolitan say.
daddy_stew08
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:51pmI say take a shotgun and shoot the birds. No birds, no problem. Its about time we stand up for ourselves. Take the land back from the insane enviro-idiots.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 5:10pmWell, if it were a citizen I think someone would be invoking eminent domain and solving that problem asap. One government can’t do it to another government? Maybe that’s the problem, to many governments.
Report Post »cerlav
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:35pmThis whole story is a big lie. Spotted owls only live in old growth redwood forests. They are incapable of adapting to any other environment.
Report Post »Mercury7
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:23pmWrong! they live in the minds of Idiots..Where are the evolutionists? This is a species that definetly should become extinct, do to survival of the fittest . I’m sure some better evolved species is ready to take over.
Report Post »Sagus
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 8:14pmI used to live on the Southern Oregon coast. Prime area for logging. The industry came crashing down after the spotted owl was placed on the protected species list. The environmentalist claim that The Spotted Owl can only live in Old Growth timber. While hiking around an area that had new growth trees, my group spotted several pairs of spotted owls. Fast forward ten years, living in Pennslyvania and going to college, I had a professor gush about how great it was that they stopped the logging of old growth timber in Oregon to save the Spotted owl. When I called him on his assertion he asked where I got my information from. You could have heard a pin drop when I told him I used to live there and seen said owls in new growth timber.
Report Post »Richalu
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:33pmAGENDA 21. Alive and well, and heading to a town near you.
Report Post »PROSECUTE_PUBLIC_SERVANTS__FOR_CONSTITUTIONAL_TREASON
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:07pmWhere’s the State of Arizonia in this fight? The State should withhold all federal tax revenue paid by citizens in Arizonia and escrow the funds until this is resolved. In the meantime the State should move to arrest any federal law enforcement that gets in the way. The County Sheriff where the repairs take place can also acomplish this.
Report Post »dnpdover
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:38pmThis is a prime example of how ignorant and arrogant our government has become. Take machinery along with armed escorts and fix the damn water lines. If the feds show up tell them to get the hell out of the way or there will be another shoot out like the O.K. Corral. Enough is enough.
Report Post »Stevsea
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:05pmShoot the owls…bring in the machinery.
Report Post »PROSECUTE_PUBLIC_SERVANTS__FOR_CONSTITUTIONAL_TREASON
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:02pmWhere’s the county sheriff? The county sheriff is the highest law enforcement officer in the county. He can arrest federal officers. The Sheriff should allow the work to go forward. If not vote for a new Sheriff.
Report Post »caleejr
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:58pmThis is insanity! Not only do they have to dig it by hand – OSHA requires a trench box to be put in place so that the trench does not collapse. a 6ft trench box weighs almost 1800 lbs. How in the **** do you expect them to put that in place while they dig? In addition to that – if they use class 52 ductile iron pipe as is common for waterline, each section of pipe weighs roughly 300lbs each.
I want to see these morons in gov’t dig by hand for an 8 hour shift – and I want to see how they plan to lower a section of pipe by hand into a trench that’s 5 feet deep. I’d pay top dollar to watch that.
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:10pmIf the federal government needed or wanted to use heavy machinery on this same land for a ‘federal purpose’, does anyone think they would not and obey the law? Hell no.
Report Post »HLGarret
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:29pmCaleejr, your right! A section of 8″ cl52 Ductile weighs in at about 2000#(20′long). Lets see them go back to the days of cast iron pipe with LEADED JOINTS! That crap is all over Kansas City and still in use!!!!!(glad I don’t live in KC!!)
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:56pmA couple more points – The Demorats were in control of both houses of Congress in 1964. And the war monger Dead Rat Johnson of the Kennedy-Johnson War from which millions of people still suffer. Tell the Feds to DROP DEAD and join Lydon Dead Rat Johnson.
Report Post »ReaganBaby
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 4:04pmTHIS IS THE BIGGEST LOAD OF BS!! I have been following this here in Tucson now on talk radio the last few months, i think it is about time Arizona give the middle finger to the federal government and does what is best for AZ. The feds are destroying this state by walking guns and literally trying to choke out the citizens by not allowing us to fix our water supply. This specific site was granted ownership by the feds back in the 1800′s and they have brought the proof to the hearings. What cant the Feds do?
Report Post »PROSECUTE_PUBLIC_SERVANTS__FOR_CONSTITUTIONAL_TREASON
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:23pmThe citizens of Arizonia need to take up arms deputized by the County Sheriff and stand guard over the reconstruction and repairs until finished. Then Arizona needs to deduct the amount of all costs for security and added expense of court and whatever and extract the funds from federal funds collected by the State. If any federal officer stops the work, they are to be detained and arrested. End of story folks. Where’s the Sheriff of this County? The Sheriff is the highest officer of the County even over any federal enforcement officer.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:56pmCheck the green cards of the Mexican spotted owls, deport them and bring in the backhoe.
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:55pmAny excuse to hinder American from productivity. These people are promoting animals and non citizens above the citizens of Arizona. Arizona has no business giving discounts to non citizens. There are many American citizens who would go to universities if they had those kinds of breaks. If you stand by and put up with what these Feds are doing, you deserve it. Tell them to go to hell and do what you have to do to take care of your citizens.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:53pmHere’s an idea…. Why doesn’t the town hire illegal aliens to fix the pipe?
The Government would not dare bother them.
Report Post »Mercury7
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:24pmRight On!!!!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:49pmIt will be the gun fight at the Owl K Corral. My bet is on the cowboys.
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:49pmSo how many residents of this town are going to vote for Demorats again?
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 9:14pmOnly the smelly dirty ones, you know, the hippies. The rest that are really thirsty will vote for the guy that will bring the water.
Report Post »MDDAWG
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:44pmRep. Flake from Arizona is exactly right. Obtaining adequate water supply for the citizens trumps all other issues, whether environmental or political.
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