Billy Cordasco and Ryan Butler sat on a hilltop behind Cedar Ranch and watched as the Slate Fire pushed its way east through juniper, pinyon and ponderosa pine forest from Highway 180 toward the historic ranch house, barn, wells and pipeline north of the San Francisco Peaks. Cordasco, president and general manager of Babbitt Ranches, is a fourth generation descendant of the original Babbitt brothers who started the ranching empire here in the late 1800s. Butler is a fire division supervisor for … [Read more...] about Arizona on Fire
wildfires
American Cowboy Keeps Northern Arizona’s Thirsty Rangeland Watered
If Jack Rodgers’ life had a theme, it would be all about water. On the night this fourth generation cowboy was born, Sept. 23, 1955, the rains came: 17 inches in the little city of Rotan, Texas, near Sweetwater, marking the end of a devastating drought. “I remember my dad talking about the bad drought in Texas that happened in the early ‘50s. It was so bad, they would take propane burners and burn the needles off prickly pear so the cattle could eat the cactus for moisture,” said … [Read more...] about American Cowboy Keeps Northern Arizona’s Thirsty Rangeland Watered
