1200 E. Holland Ave.
Alpine, TX 79830
www.themaverickinn.com
info@themaverickinn.com
t. 432.837.0628
f. 432.837.0825
Typical stone house in Shafter with the Morita Hills in the distance,Watercolor on paper 11 inches by 17 inches
continued from page 13
living here. Good neighbors.
Most places we’ve lived we’ve
had good neighbors.
Ken: We used to ride our
bicycles quite a bit, but we
don’t seem to be doing that
much any more.
Patt: The view.
Ken: The view. The cool
evenings. Less dust than
Presidio.
Patt: Yeah, we like to sit out
continued from page 18
insurmountable apathy, to
save the river. Some of these
people work in government
agencies, some are employed
by profit and non-profit
groups and some do it just for
love of the river.
Here are some of the good
things and bad things that are
happening.
In the Valley, national, state
and local governments are
finally waking up to the fact
that eco-tourism may be the
only thing that can salvage the
area’s chronically ravaged
economy. Here the author
meets with Roy Rodriguez,
who leads interpretive birding
and nature tours on both sides
of the border, and John Ditto,
a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife
manager who’s now a fulltime
nature photographer and con-
on our hill and watch the
creek. Watch the mountains.
Watch the stars. I remember,
there was a guy in Austin. He
said, “Oh, you live in Shafter?
Escaping reality?” And I said,
“No, going back to it. When
you have trash, you put it out-
side. It disappears. When you
need help, you pick up the
phone and help appears.
Where we live, if you need
help, you depend on your
neighbors. And you better
have been good to them. Our trash? We deal with it.
Something goes out with the
water system? You deal with it.
You may have had to put the
water system in to begin with.”
That’s reality.
servationist. We learn that the
economic contribution of just
two federal wildlife refuges in
the Valley has risen from
about 22 million dollars annu-
ally in 1996, to over a hundred
million today. In turn, this
data encouraged Congress to
fund “World Birding Centers”
and Mexico responded by cre-
ating the 356-thousand-acre
El Cielo Biosphere preserve
across the river in the Sierra
Madre Oriental.
On the downside, Baxter
hears how Texas game war-
dens stationed along the river
now have to carry automatic
rifles and engage in running
gun battles with drug smug-
glers, coyotes and even illegal
commercial fishermen using
“gill nets” – not a good adver-
tisement for bird watchers.
Now we’ll soon have more
environmental degradation
and wildlife slaughter caused by the new border fence. And
prospects for further cross-bor-
der cooperation on the river
are now deteriorating along
with the river itself.
To top it off, we learn that
the Corps of Engineers rates
the safety of dams on a one-
to-five scale, with five being
safe and one being about to
burst, and that Amistad Dam,
on the Rio Grande just above
Del Rio, is rated two (“poten-
tially unsafe” and in need of
“urgent” attention). But not to
worry, the author is told, it’s
not the concrete dam itself
that’s crumbling, just its lime-
stone foundation.
Crossing over the Pecos
into the Big Bend, Baxter and
Parent make a float trip
through Boquillas Canyon
with our own inimitable “river
continued on page 27
Cenizo
A magical
oasis in the
Chihuahuan
Desert
of Texas
rustic lodging
camping
day use
432.229.4165
Off the
Pinto Canyon Rd
near Ruidosa
chinatihotsprings.com
H UDSON B UILDING
M ATERIALS
Structural steel, pipe & rebar
Building materials
C purlins, square tubing & angles
Patio stone & rock
Decorative fittings
Open Mon, Wed, Fri
2400 HWY 90 W • Alpine
432 837 9417 • 432-837-0776
Third Quarter 2009
23