Wolves on Camera
Summit County Safe Passages Initiative is a volunteer organization which collects data to keep track of wildlife and their meandering through the county.When there is an large number of human/animal contacts. Such contacts contribute to accidents to both human/animals . especially animal/cars,

The Colorado Corridors Project is partner volunteer which which maintains a string of cameras scattered through the park. Each camera automatically takes a picture when something moves in its field of view.These cameras operate 24-7 to give volunteers a good idea which collard wolves  are and keep them away from domestic livestock

                                                       Wolf looks at camera.l

Rules For Killing Wolves
Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife has updated its rules that allow farmers and ranchers to kill wolves on certain occasions. Rule 10(j) includes lveveanguage that allows wolves caught in the act of activating lifestock attacking working dogs can be killed to protect the animal.

In the months since wolves were reintroduced in Colorado there have been no reports of attacks on working dogs.

Good Reading
Murder on Money Mountain is out and in bookstores now. No longer an excuse. not to check it out. Historical\Mystery set in Cripple Creek, Colorado 1890, if your favorite bookstore does not have it, why are they your favorite?

The Hard Work
Now the hard work begins...marketing. Nobody wants what you've got or else they just bought one this morning. The trick is to convince customers that yours is better or cheaper or newer or...

What I am marketing is a novel. Do you have any idea how many books are  listed for sale in the online? Two times the number of stars plus the number of grains of sand on the beach.     

But if you want a good novel: Murder on Money Mountain, by  G. Eldon Smith, at Koehler Books, 3705 Shore Drive, VA 23455  or Amazon.

Sample
"Why would anybody want to blow up a train station?" Coyle asked. "I heard some of the people on the platform  were waiting for the train, died in the explosion."
From across the table came, "Eleven."
Coyle was shocked and aghast. It took several seconds before he could speak. "Again, why would
 anyone want to blow up a train, a train full of passengers?"




















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Mid-summer
Every summer we face the dilemma of what to write about. But this year, as every fourth year, we are overwhelmed by politics and election antics in the news. In this election year summer we will attempt to avoid the words "vote for" and concentrate  on the important issues of summer.

Tour de France has not had an American contender since Lance Armstrong.
Americans seem to prefer races that feature internal-combustion engines.

Count your  cats before sealing up packages for mailing. I recently read about one feline that got a free trip from Utah to California thanks to Amazon via return-shipping as a hiding place.
 
Colorado Rockies insured a last place finish in their division for the umpteenth time.

The big one - Murder on Money Mountain will be released July 12 as the third and last of the Andrew Coyle mystery series. Plans are being made for a book signing in Colorado Springs, Colorado where some of the action takes place. Circle the date on your calendar. Prizes will not be given.

Colorado Counties
There are 64 counties in Colorado, depending on how many cities have changed their status from cities to "City and County of Blah." The names of towns that grew into cites and counties are interesting.
 
There are six Colorado Counties with the names of Indian tribes. There are three Colorado counties with "fort" names. Thirty-one Colorado counties are named after presidents, governors, explorers, other historical figures, and early settlers and landowners (all white men).

Murder on Money Mountain
My third novel - release date - July 12, 2024. Be sure to ask your local bookstore to please stock  some on the shelves, so you can get one. Your can order ahead of the release date to be sure you get one.

First Summer Blog
In the early days of Denver, Littleton was a separate town, and a half a day buggy ride from Denver. In those days travelers brought their lunch with them to eat on the way to Littleton. There is an historic houe on S. Curtice St. in Littleton. In those days the house belonged to a family that managed the Littleton Cemetery. It still stands on S. Curtice Street in modern Littleton.

As unlikely as it seems, the house became a newspaper office and eventually was owned by news writer Sonja Ellingboe. Ellingboe added a gift shop to the newspaper office.

The big news now is the house has been designated as a historical landmark. The grand old lady that played so many roles for so many owners is now a Historical Place.

New Release
Murder on Money Mountain has been printed and will be available on July 12. The place for author signings is being arranged. The location and date/time will be will appear in this blog when it becomes released around July 12.

Orphan Trains
Orphan trains were the brainchild of Charles Loring Brace, a minister who was troubled by the large number of homeless and impoverished children in New York city. A massive influx of new immigrants had crowded the city, and a series of financial panics and depressions in the late 19th century created unemployment.  As a result, tens of thousands of destitute children ended up on the street.
In New York City, in 1850 there were estimated 10,000 to 30,000 abandoned and orphaned children. These children were nick-named "Street Arabs" because of their wandering ways. Brace was motivated by some European examples to start the Orphan Train program which "placed"  around 200,000 with suitable families. The Orphan Trains operated from 1854 to 1929,
Two state Governors come west  through the Orphan Train program but many more lived  as indented servants. Most at some level between the two extremes in places through the Midwest.
The Orphan experience can be best explained the song Orphan Train.

Orphan Train Lyrics
Once i had a darlin mother, though i can't recall her name
I had a baby brother, who I'll never see again
Oh the children's home is sending us out on the orphan train
To try to find someone to take us in

Take us in
We have rode the orphan train
Take us in we need a home we need a name
Take us in
Oh won't you be our kin
We are lookin for someone to take us in

I have stolen from the poorbox, I begged the city streets
I've swamped the bars and poolrooms, for a little bite to eat
Had my daddy's old green jacket and these rags upon my feet
I've been lookin for someone to take me in

Take us in
We have rode the orphan train
Take us in we need a home we need a name
Take us in
Oh won't you be our kin
We are lookin for someone to take us in

And the children home they gathered us, me and all the rest
They taught us to sit quietly until the food was blessed
Then they put us on the orphan train, they sent us way out west,
to try to find someone to take us in

And the farmers and their families rode in from miles around
We lined up on the platform of the station in each town
And one by one we parted, like some living lost and found
And one by one we all were taken in

Take us in
We have rode the orphan train
Take us in we need a home we need a name
Take us in
Oh won't you be our kin
We are lookin for someone to take us in

Now there's a many a good doctor or a teacher in your school
There's many a fine preacher who can teach the golden rule
Who started out an orphan sleeping in the freezing rain
Who life began out on the orphan train

Take us in
We have rode the orphan train
Take us in we need a home we need a name
Take us in
Oh won't you be our kin
We are lookin for someone to take us in

 Elephants
How do those cute little darlings grow up to be frankly a little bit ugly and wrinkled adults?

A full grown elephant can eat as much as several hundred pounds of grass and vegetables a day. That means the growing youngster has to pack a lot of vegetables a day to obtain that size. In a herd of elephants many of the females help in raising in raising a calf. And that is how the little cutie gets to be the earth's largest land animal.

SOAR Initiative Brings Together Many Interests
A new initiative will conserve a large land area in the Colorado Springs area: Security, Open Space, and Agricultural Resilience (SOAR). The swaths of land will protect agriculture, military training uses, and provide protection for wildlife.
In the first project the partners acquired 11,900 acres to generate revenue for public education. The air above the property will provide training areas for the Air Force Academy. Also, these prairies support many mammals, birds and plant species.

Murder on Money Mountain
We've seen a sample of the hardback copy and it looks great. Available soon on Amazon, Ingram books and Barnes and Noble.
 

Oh Give Me a Home
Wildlands Network is a company that specializes in capturing animals for research purposes. They are engaging in a study of the effects of solar panels on antelopes in the four-corners area of the New Mexico - Colorado. Researchers are using helicopters to get close enough to shoot a net over an antelope and let researchers to a attach data collecting collar on the subject antelope.

The problem is the number of antelopes that die in this procedure is about thirty percent. The  researchers are not certain if the data collected is accurate or the mortality rate  is affecting the data. This is not an area where the deer and antelope play, This is another case where science is trying to help and is making things worse.

...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain---that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom---and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

~ Carlos E. Fernandez
From the Colorado State Director -
The Nature Conservancy
The global crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss that we are all facing will require all hands on deck to make a difference. By working together we can make an impact at a scale that matches the size of the challenge.


A World Where People & Nature Thrive
Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has over one million members globally with branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. As of 2021 The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 119,000,000 acres. 

For an example of one of their projects, in the Montana Project, in June 2008, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land announced they reached an agreement to purchase approximately 320,000 acres  of western Montana forestland from Plum Creek Timber Company for $510 million. The purchase, known as the Montana Legacy Project, is part of an effort to keep these forests in productive timber management and protect the area's clean water and abundant fish and wildlife habitat, while promoting continued public access to these lands for fishing, hiking, hunting and other recreational pursuits.

The Conservancy projects are aimed at saving forests from being cut for wood, or fighting climate change making  more CO2, or providing habitat for wildlife. These projects are paid for by contributions from the million members, corporate contributions  or investments.

Animals, worldwide, saved by The Nature Conservancy ___