In a major thrust to increase recreational opportunities, the current 68.4-mile trail system will add an initial 83.1 miles and a future 90.4 miles of trail for a total 242.06 miles, in what would become the largest trail system of any park in Texas. By comparison, Big Bend National Park has 203 miles of trails, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park has 80. by John Waters    more »

"Operation Wrangler" is a coordinated interagency law enforcement surge effort intended to prevent and disrupt all crime and illegal international drug and human trafficking. Operation Wrangler will involve federal, state and local ground, air and water-borne assets, including more than 6,800 personnel, 2,200 vehicles, 48 helicopters, 33 fixed wing aircraft and 35 patrol ships.   more »

Dogs loaded in the truck bed, we headed for the river – the mighty Rio Grande. Cocoa has a definite Type A personality and she was in rare form, barking and spinning, moving from one side of the truck to the other like some manic goalie determined not to let the other team score. Bodhi is more zen monk, resembling a large furry hood ornament displaced to the rear of the vehicle, as he gracefully leans into the wind, gaze steady, fur waving. by Ceil Drucker    more »

The Tri-counties has mind-boggling diversity in weather, soil, pests and moisture. But once you know the basics, it’s a matter of fine-tuning to get your vegetable garden just right. The soil is the beginning. What’s in the soil will be in our food. by Dallas Baxter    more »

How is it possible to dedicate megabucks to making the border’s biological situation worse instead of to cleaning up shared binational water sheds, airsheds, and landscapes to improve the habitat for humans and other living things? by Talli Nauman    more »

The synopsis does not reveal the film’s ending but leaves off with the terrorist being ordered to return to Mexico after being contacted by his handlers via satellite phone. Due to resistance from citizens, the terrorist is ordered to abort his mission, and receive codes to disarm the bomb upon his return to Mexico. If he is killed before he receives the disarm codes the nuclear bomb will go off. Far fetched? Maybe not.... by John Waters    more »

It is often said that one function of government is to protect the poor from the rich. Since our present rulers (government) have consistently done the opposite, I agree with Mr. Briggs that we should do away with them, that no government (in this specific case) is better than horribly bad government. But what the Norquist crowd really means is to do away with government except where it benefits the military-industrial complex.   more »

When asked what we should do about the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States, members of the Boys & Girls Club of Terlingua said that President Bush should change places with an immigrant for a day.   more »

“My husband and my mother did not have a horrid death,” said Jo Tucker, who lives south of Alpine, and experienced the benefits of hospice care from the local team of providers for the death of both her husband and mother. “There was no agony, no pain, no horrid expression – thanks to hospice…. You couldn’t ask for a better team…. They know how to stay one step ahead…. I knew what was going to happen because they told me…. [My husband] could stay at home, look out the window, listen to music he loved.” by Marlys Hersey    more »