Mustangs Rule
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2021
- Messages
- 840
Malcolm was one of the best friends I ever had. He was born in 1904. In 1905 Teddy Roosevelt created our National Forest System. TR created 150 National Forests infuriating special interest groups that wanted to plunder our wild west.
The story of “The Midnight Forests” is outstanding. Night after night for months with all the maps laid out, TR created one National Forest after another, out maneuvering the land speculators. They were furious.
Malcolm and our National Forest system grew up together. His family had a dairy farm in California, close to where oil was discovered. He saw his home state population explode over and over, and he saw the battle for resources.
He was too young for WW1, and too old for WW2. After WW1 California was again flooded especially the Los Angeles area, but two national forests nearby offered protection for land and wildlife.
Malcolm visited both The San Bernadino NF and the Los Angeles NF in his teen years. He was so grateful he wanted to do something.
Many years later he took all North American big game with his only rifle. How he got that rifle reflects his commitment to give back.
The rifle was a gift from WW1 vets at a local VFW. Without having Malcolm be a window into this time I never would have known the role that WW1 vets played in supporting the PR Act. The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937. WW1 vets returned after seeing an entire continent and its wildlife destroyed. They wanted to help create a system here that protected wildlife.
As a teen during WW1, then as young man later, Malcolm tirelessly worked organizing for the PR Act especially after seeing how quickly California’s wildlife and habitat was gone. Only the protection of a Federal umbrella prevented that from happening on newly created National Forests.
As a token of their appreciation, a group of WW1 vets paid for a custom1903 Springfield and gave it to him. It had beautiful rock maple stock, and an early 4x Weaver scope plus still had iron sights. The custom stock was made to fit him. He was on the short side, but was lean and fit. He had big ears which he joked about and said they allowed him to hear the elk bugling better.
Malcolm was trained as rifleman by these WW1 vets. He learned to use of the Whelen Sling and his field marksmanship skills were amazing.
I met him when driving by his home and seeing a “For Sale” sign on a 1968 GMC 4X4 ¾ ton pick-up. He bought it brand new. It was in great shape, everything he had was in great shape. He had just parked it on the road in front of his home, which he built himself, and put the “For Sale” sign on it a half an hour before. That was in 1986. He wanted a $1,000 for it. I was on my way to work but said I would come back later and bring him the $1,000.
We shook hands, and he took the “For Sale” sign off. We would become friends till he died four and a half years later.
Often we took trips into one of the three National Forests nearby. He knew all them by heart.
Two were created when he was 4years old. The third the Los Padres NF, was created when he was 32 years old. The Los Padres NF includes part of the Big Sur coast, one of the most spectacular places on earth. He was in real time when all this was happening.
He lost two wives, one to cancer and the other to bad heart. He never had kids, so that made our bond that much tighter. Only once did he ever speak about politics. That was concerning the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, which ended up really stripping the USFS of funding.
Those cuts really reduced doing controlled burns. They could easy be ignored for few years but, fire suppression had dramatically reduced the quality of habitat and wildfire fuel was building up. We now have 45 years of not enough money for the USFS to engage in serious sustained controlled burns. The huge amount of fuel for wildfires is depressing/scary to any forester. Don’t blame the USFS, for not being able to do things when funding is slashed
Malcolm had an incredible library about all things outdoors. We both read Aldo Leopold’s ideas about having a land ethic. Malcolm had been a dairy farmer, so had I. We both had a deep abiding respect for land and understood long term land care.
Going back decades before we met he was aware of the coming takeover of Cheat-grass. It is like a Devil Plant that thrives on bare land and can burn so quickly it is almost an explosion.
Years ago when I bought some land. I had a cowboy graze his 6 horses, for free, with the condition he take them off promptly when I asked him to. I wanted to protect my home from fire.
He did not take his horses off my land when asked, he had a “Greed for Grass” typical of so many stock-men. The places where his horses grazed my land to dust, cheat grass took over. It has taken years to fight it successfully.
Even if our public land is not sold, just leased, with environmental safeguards thrown away and enforcement being nothing, and so many highly qualified people being fired, expect the terrible worst.
A cheat grass fueled fire took out 1.1 million Joshua Trees on the high desert where I once lived near and had good deer hunting and great quail hunting. This forest will not ever recover.
The fires there now are 4X what they once were historically, far worse and with fire tornadoes.
One of my close friends recently retired after being a District Ranger. One of these new types of fires did something totally unexpected and fire fighters died.
Another fire killed between 8,000 10,000 giant giant Sequoias. These record setting tragedies keep happening one after another. All one has to do is compare historical data to the last ½ century
Malcolm had one room dedicated to tying flies, sharpening his knife, waterproofing his boots, and cleaning his rifle, which he always handled with obvious reverence.
In one corner there was a box filled with dozens of National Forest maps, real detailed good ones, which were once all freely handed out at USFS information stations all over the west and Alaska. Each map was properly folded and had an ID tag sticking out identifying what National Forest it was from.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s he did not object one bit to the new wilderness status, which restricted mechanized vehicles. After seeing what had happened to California, he knew that the only way to preserve the quality of our National Forests was by regulations. With him; the land, the habitat, the wildlife came first.
At some point I dropped over to visit him and asked him if he wanted to take a ride. I had bought some acreage adjoining a National Forest and wanted to show it to him. He had not shot his rifle in long time so he brought it along. When we were target shooting, he did not offer his rifle for me to shoot and I did not ask. We did some hiking to places he hunted in his youth and wanted to see them again. He was about 82 then.
We came to a few places where the USFS roads were locked. He told me how after that Omnibus Budget cuts were forced on the Forest Service in 1981, each district had to get rid of their road grader. The new alternative was private contractors which was more expensive than having the road work done “in house” so less roads were graded. Not wanting to face costs of regrading ruts in dirt roads after heavy rain or snow. the gates were locked more.
Having seen the amazing formation of our National Forest system, Malcolm also saw how furious the $special interet$ group$ were and he knew they would stop at nothing to undo our National Forest systems.
He was adamant that the real purpose behind such deep funding cuts was so that the USFS simply could not do the great job as they had done before and that could be used as an excuse to turn them over to the states or sell them outright.
I moved away and built a home and barns on my land. I only saw Malcolm when I went to city on holidays with my wife to visit her family. I would always go over to see him.. He asked about his Old GMC 4X4. I showed him photos, he smiled. He was still in such great shape.
Always on my birthday he called offering well wishes/
When my birthday passed without a call, I got concerned. I had no other contact number for him than his home, so I began calling nearby hospitals. I found him. He sounded so weak.
We had a real fine conversation. We said the right things to each other. I called the next day and asked for him and a nurse asked me to hang on when she went to get a doctor.
I knew nobody at Malcolm’s funeral. The coffin was open and he looked like a plastic version of his once self. He had gone quickly. Was healthy until two weeks before old age took him.
Every now and then when I go through some drawers, I find a copy of his funeral card. On it is written an Indian prayer about facing death with courage.
The only other physical thing I now have to remember Malcolm by are the handles I made out of a spike elk antler he gave me, I put them on a Green River Skinning knife.
When I hear people trashing the USFS and it’s employees, or The BLM too, it bothers me.
I respond with this 100% true story.
The daughter of one of my USFS friends became a smoke jumper, parachuted into remote country to fight fires. She is 5’10” a real power house. She married a USFS worker. She went on maternity leave. When her baby was six months old there was a real wild fire emergency and she volunteered to be available. She was called to duty, pumped her milk out her breasts, put it in a bottle in the frig, kissed her baby and husband goodbye and went to fight that fire. The USFS used to be like a family and everyone had the same mother, their little portion of Mother Earth.
There are variations of “The Great Game” depending on where you are in the world. 31% of America is Federal Public land. For over a century it was protected. That is now over,
Seeing this would have broken that old hunters heart.
The story of “The Midnight Forests” is outstanding. Night after night for months with all the maps laid out, TR created one National Forest after another, out maneuvering the land speculators. They were furious.
Malcolm and our National Forest system grew up together. His family had a dairy farm in California, close to where oil was discovered. He saw his home state population explode over and over, and he saw the battle for resources.
He was too young for WW1, and too old for WW2. After WW1 California was again flooded especially the Los Angeles area, but two national forests nearby offered protection for land and wildlife.
Malcolm visited both The San Bernadino NF and the Los Angeles NF in his teen years. He was so grateful he wanted to do something.
Many years later he took all North American big game with his only rifle. How he got that rifle reflects his commitment to give back.
The rifle was a gift from WW1 vets at a local VFW. Without having Malcolm be a window into this time I never would have known the role that WW1 vets played in supporting the PR Act. The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937. WW1 vets returned after seeing an entire continent and its wildlife destroyed. They wanted to help create a system here that protected wildlife.
As a teen during WW1, then as young man later, Malcolm tirelessly worked organizing for the PR Act especially after seeing how quickly California’s wildlife and habitat was gone. Only the protection of a Federal umbrella prevented that from happening on newly created National Forests.
As a token of their appreciation, a group of WW1 vets paid for a custom1903 Springfield and gave it to him. It had beautiful rock maple stock, and an early 4x Weaver scope plus still had iron sights. The custom stock was made to fit him. He was on the short side, but was lean and fit. He had big ears which he joked about and said they allowed him to hear the elk bugling better.
Malcolm was trained as rifleman by these WW1 vets. He learned to use of the Whelen Sling and his field marksmanship skills were amazing.
I met him when driving by his home and seeing a “For Sale” sign on a 1968 GMC 4X4 ¾ ton pick-up. He bought it brand new. It was in great shape, everything he had was in great shape. He had just parked it on the road in front of his home, which he built himself, and put the “For Sale” sign on it a half an hour before. That was in 1986. He wanted a $1,000 for it. I was on my way to work but said I would come back later and bring him the $1,000.
We shook hands, and he took the “For Sale” sign off. We would become friends till he died four and a half years later.
Often we took trips into one of the three National Forests nearby. He knew all them by heart.
Two were created when he was 4years old. The third the Los Padres NF, was created when he was 32 years old. The Los Padres NF includes part of the Big Sur coast, one of the most spectacular places on earth. He was in real time when all this was happening.
He lost two wives, one to cancer and the other to bad heart. He never had kids, so that made our bond that much tighter. Only once did he ever speak about politics. That was concerning the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, which ended up really stripping the USFS of funding.
Those cuts really reduced doing controlled burns. They could easy be ignored for few years but, fire suppression had dramatically reduced the quality of habitat and wildfire fuel was building up. We now have 45 years of not enough money for the USFS to engage in serious sustained controlled burns. The huge amount of fuel for wildfires is depressing/scary to any forester. Don’t blame the USFS, for not being able to do things when funding is slashed
Malcolm had an incredible library about all things outdoors. We both read Aldo Leopold’s ideas about having a land ethic. Malcolm had been a dairy farmer, so had I. We both had a deep abiding respect for land and understood long term land care.
Going back decades before we met he was aware of the coming takeover of Cheat-grass. It is like a Devil Plant that thrives on bare land and can burn so quickly it is almost an explosion.
Years ago when I bought some land. I had a cowboy graze his 6 horses, for free, with the condition he take them off promptly when I asked him to. I wanted to protect my home from fire.
He did not take his horses off my land when asked, he had a “Greed for Grass” typical of so many stock-men. The places where his horses grazed my land to dust, cheat grass took over. It has taken years to fight it successfully.
Even if our public land is not sold, just leased, with environmental safeguards thrown away and enforcement being nothing, and so many highly qualified people being fired, expect the terrible worst.
A cheat grass fueled fire took out 1.1 million Joshua Trees on the high desert where I once lived near and had good deer hunting and great quail hunting. This forest will not ever recover.
The fires there now are 4X what they once were historically, far worse and with fire tornadoes.
One of my close friends recently retired after being a District Ranger. One of these new types of fires did something totally unexpected and fire fighters died.
Another fire killed between 8,000 10,000 giant giant Sequoias. These record setting tragedies keep happening one after another. All one has to do is compare historical data to the last ½ century
Malcolm had one room dedicated to tying flies, sharpening his knife, waterproofing his boots, and cleaning his rifle, which he always handled with obvious reverence.
In one corner there was a box filled with dozens of National Forest maps, real detailed good ones, which were once all freely handed out at USFS information stations all over the west and Alaska. Each map was properly folded and had an ID tag sticking out identifying what National Forest it was from.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s he did not object one bit to the new wilderness status, which restricted mechanized vehicles. After seeing what had happened to California, he knew that the only way to preserve the quality of our National Forests was by regulations. With him; the land, the habitat, the wildlife came first.
At some point I dropped over to visit him and asked him if he wanted to take a ride. I had bought some acreage adjoining a National Forest and wanted to show it to him. He had not shot his rifle in long time so he brought it along. When we were target shooting, he did not offer his rifle for me to shoot and I did not ask. We did some hiking to places he hunted in his youth and wanted to see them again. He was about 82 then.
We came to a few places where the USFS roads were locked. He told me how after that Omnibus Budget cuts were forced on the Forest Service in 1981, each district had to get rid of their road grader. The new alternative was private contractors which was more expensive than having the road work done “in house” so less roads were graded. Not wanting to face costs of regrading ruts in dirt roads after heavy rain or snow. the gates were locked more.
Having seen the amazing formation of our National Forest system, Malcolm also saw how furious the $special interet$ group$ were and he knew they would stop at nothing to undo our National Forest systems.
He was adamant that the real purpose behind such deep funding cuts was so that the USFS simply could not do the great job as they had done before and that could be used as an excuse to turn them over to the states or sell them outright.
I moved away and built a home and barns on my land. I only saw Malcolm when I went to city on holidays with my wife to visit her family. I would always go over to see him.. He asked about his Old GMC 4X4. I showed him photos, he smiled. He was still in such great shape.
Always on my birthday he called offering well wishes/
When my birthday passed without a call, I got concerned. I had no other contact number for him than his home, so I began calling nearby hospitals. I found him. He sounded so weak.
We had a real fine conversation. We said the right things to each other. I called the next day and asked for him and a nurse asked me to hang on when she went to get a doctor.
I knew nobody at Malcolm’s funeral. The coffin was open and he looked like a plastic version of his once self. He had gone quickly. Was healthy until two weeks before old age took him.
Every now and then when I go through some drawers, I find a copy of his funeral card. On it is written an Indian prayer about facing death with courage.
The only other physical thing I now have to remember Malcolm by are the handles I made out of a spike elk antler he gave me, I put them on a Green River Skinning knife.
When I hear people trashing the USFS and it’s employees, or The BLM too, it bothers me.
I respond with this 100% true story.
The daughter of one of my USFS friends became a smoke jumper, parachuted into remote country to fight fires. She is 5’10” a real power house. She married a USFS worker. She went on maternity leave. When her baby was six months old there was a real wild fire emergency and she volunteered to be available. She was called to duty, pumped her milk out her breasts, put it in a bottle in the frig, kissed her baby and husband goodbye and went to fight that fire. The USFS used to be like a family and everyone had the same mother, their little portion of Mother Earth.
There are variations of “The Great Game” depending on where you are in the world. 31% of America is Federal Public land. For over a century it was protected. That is now over,
Seeing this would have broken that old hunters heart.
