January 22, 2016

Please help stop a 'predator hunt'!

Please help stop a local predator hunt by signing a petition and emailing the organizer!

The hunt claims that killing bobcats, coyotes, foxes, coati mundi's and badgers for points (for as many as you can kill) supports "conservation, hunting, education and community."

Here's a link to the petition (please share for the sake of the animals!):

https://www.change.org/p/john-millican-stop-the-2016-annual-huachuca-gould-s-chapter-predator-hunt-fundraiser

The fundraiser states:

HUACHUCA GOULD’S CHAPTER 8th ANNUAL PREDATOR HUNT FUNDRAISER
THE HUACHUCA GOULD’S CHAPTER IS HOSTING A FUNDRAISING PREDATOR POPULATION CONTROL HUNT ON JANUARY 30-31, 2015. HUNTING AREAS OPEN STATEWIDE!
PROCEEDS FROM THIS EVENT WILL AID IN FAMILY/YOUTH ACTIVITIES, CONSERVATION EDUCATION, AND SCHOLARSHIPS.
PARTICIPANTS ARE INVITED TO CAMP AT ROSE TREE RANCH EVENT SITE. TAKE I-10 TO SONOITA EXIT, OR HIGHWAY 90 EXIT TO HIGHWAY 82 (TURN SOUTH OFF HIGHWAY 82 AT MILEPOST 40.9 ONTO UPPER ELGIN ROAD. DRIVE SOUTH 3.4 MILES TO ROCK HOUSE ON EAST SIDE. CAMP SETUP BEGINNING AT 2:00PM ON JANUARY 29TH .
REGISTRATION DEADLINE AT 5:00PM, ON JANUARY 28th . CONTEST BEGINS JANUARY 30TH.
COST OF EVENT: (REGISTRATION DEADLINE, JANUARY 28th)
TEAM DIVISION (1-2 PERSONS/TEAM): $25.00 PER PERSON
FAMILY DIVISION (Adult(s) w/ Children 17 years old & younger): $30.00 per family
AWARDS given for highest total, largest and smallest predator. In case of tie, total weight will be tie breaker:
Each Predator checked in awarded points: Coyote – 5 Bobcat – 4 Fox – 3 Coati Mundi – 2 Badger - 1
DIVISIONS: TEAM: AWARDS TO EACH PERSON
FAMILY: FAMILY AWARD (1 TROPHY/FAMILY/ PLACE)
AWARDS given out for First, Second and Third place in each division
FINAL PREDATOR CHECK-IN SUNDAY, JANUARY 31st AT 12:30P.M. SHARP
AWARDS PRESENTATION TO FOLLOW AT 1:30 P.M.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION and FOR REGISTRATION FORMS, CONTACT:
JOHN MILLICAN: 520-508-4272, j2dbmill@msn.com, or WAYNE KAISER: 520-678-9827 OR on the website at www.nwtfhuagoulds.org
REGISTRATION and FEES WILL BE ACCEPTED EITHER BY CONTACT WITH JOHN, OR WAYNE, BY REGISTERING ON OUR WEBSITE, OR BY MAILING REGISTRATION FORM AND ENTRY FEES TO:
HUACHUCA GOULD’S CHAPTER
P.O. BOX 1257
HEREFORD, AZ 85615

January 22, 2016

Help Stop a Predator Hunt!

Please help stop a local predator hunt by signing a petition and emailing the organizer!

The hunt claims that killing bobcats, coyotes, foxes, coati mundi's and badgers for points (for as many as you can kill) supports "conservation, hunting, education and community."

Here's a link to the petition (please share for the sake of the animals!):

https://www.change.org/p/john-millican-stop-the-2016-annual-huachuca-gould-s-chapter-predator-hunt-fundraiser

The fundraiser states:

HUACHUCA GOULD’S CHAPTER 8th ANNUAL PREDATOR HUNT FUNDRAISER
THE HUACHUCA GOULD’S CHAPTER IS HOSTING A FUNDRAISING PREDATOR POPULATION CONTROL HUNT ON JANUARY 30-31, 2015. HUNTING AREAS OPEN STATEWIDE!
PROCEEDS FROM THIS EVENT WILL AID IN FAMILY/YOUTH ACTIVITIES, CONSERVATION EDUCATION, AND SCHOLARSHIPS.
PARTICIPANTS ARE INVITED TO CAMP AT ROSE TREE RANCH EVENT SITE. TAKE I-10 TO SONOITA EXIT, OR HIGHWAY 90 EXIT TO HIGHWAY 82 (TURN SOUTH OFF HIGHWAY 82 AT MILEPOST 40.9 ONTO UPPER ELGIN ROAD. DRIVE SOUTH 3.4 MILES TO ROCK HOUSE ON EAST SIDE. CAMP SETUP BEGINNING AT 2:00PM ON JANUARY 29TH .
REGISTRATION DEADLINE AT 5:00PM, ON JANUARY 28th . CONTEST BEGINS JANUARY 30TH.
COST OF EVENT: (REGISTRATION DEADLINE, JANUARY 28th)
TEAM DIVISION (1-2 PERSONS/TEAM): $25.00 PER PERSON
FAMILY DIVISION (Adult(s) w/ Children 17 years old & younger): $30.00 per family
AWARDS given for highest total, largest and smallest predator. In case of tie, total weight will be tie breaker:
Each Predator checked in awarded points: Coyote – 5 Bobcat – 4 Fox – 3 Coati Mundi – 2 Badger - 1
DIVISIONS: TEAM: AWARDS TO EACH PERSON
FAMILY: FAMILY AWARD (1 TROPHY/FAMILY/ PLACE)
AWARDS given out for First, Second and Third place in each division
FINAL PREDATOR CHECK-IN SUNDAY, JANUARY 31st AT 12:30P.M. SHARP
AWARDS PRESENTATION TO FOLLOW AT 1:30 P.M.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION and FOR REGISTRATION FORMS, CONTACT:
JOHN MILLICAN: 520-508-4272, j2dbmill@msn.com, or WAYNE KAISER: 520-678-9827 OR on the website at www.nwtfhuagoulds.org
REGISTRATION and FEES WILL BE ACCEPTED EITHER BY CONTACT WITH JOHN, OR WAYNE, BY REGISTERING ON OUR WEBSITE, OR BY MAILING REGISTRATION FORM AND ENTRY FEES TO:
HUACHUCA GOULD’S CHAPTER
P.O. BOX 1257
HEREFORD, AZ 85615

January 11, 2016

Petition to have the Bundy Terrorist Removed?

I searched online and found only two petitions, one regarding Cliven Bundy and his cows and the other related to returning the Malheur Wildlife Refuge to the northern Paiute people. Both worthy petitions.

However, I am enraged that the state and federal law enforcement agencies are letting the Bundy Terrorists get away with such criminal acts at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in the first place.

I was thinking that a petition that specifically asks for the immediate arrest of the Bundy Terrorists, putting and end to the 'standoff' would be a good thing. Especially if it could get 100K signatures or more.

Any thoughts?

January 8, 2016

Not all drones are bad - Aerial Photography

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I wanted to share one of the new capabilities I've been working towards with the aerial photography: Creating composite images of a larger area in order to document changes over time, be it vegetation, construction, erosion or landscape. For this test I manually flew the UAV and took photos. The next step will be to pre-load a waypoint mission and have the UAV autonomously fly transects while I control the camera and take the photos that will be used to create the larger composite image.

In the following example each composite image was created from between 15 and 20 images taken from approximately 40 meters in the air with the camera pointed strait down. In the following images you can see the multi-photo, pre-cropped composite and the cropped composite for comparison.

Precrop of development/desert destruction:


Postcrop:


Precrop of creek-bed and social trails:


Postcrop: