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SANTA FE — Today, Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Congressmen Ryan Zinke (R-Mont) and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) introduced the
Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act. This bill would support and expand voluntary efforts to improve wildlife habitat, including big game habitat, on private and working lands.
“The farms and ranches of the West provide much of the essential habitat that wildlife need to survive. Most landowners care deeply about wildlife and yet the costs associated with supporting wildlife can jeopardize their ability to stay in business,“ Western Landowners Alliance CEO Lesli Allison said. “As more and more land is developed, the pressure is increasing on the remaining intact private lands to provide food and shelter for many different species. The bipartisan Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act ensures ranchers and farmers have access to the full suite of tools and resources to conserve and steward these lands for the benefit of people and wildlife.”
This legislation will help USDA prioritize the creation and maintenance of wildlife habitat connectivity and wildlife migration corridors through their conservation programs. It will also make it easier for agricultural producers to participate in programs that benefit wildlife migrations and habitat connectivity. Additionally, the legislation makes virtual fencing eligible for USDA research and extension grants, encouraging research on the benefits of virtual fencing. Conventional fencing across the West results in wildlife entanglement, which is often lethal.
“Protecting and expanding wildlife corridors requires all of us to be at the table and that includes farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers. The bipartisan Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act protects and expands the movement of wildlife while supporting the stewards of our working lands. We must find balance where both can thrive, and my bill does just that,” said Vasquez. “I thank Senator Heinrich and Representative Zinke for joining me in introducing this bill that will benefit New Mexicans and Montanans, and will spur the healthy movement and migration of wildlife across the West.”
“Some of our most iconic North American big game traverse thousands of miles on their migration routes every year. As Secretary I signed a secretarial order establishing a federal-state-private sector partnership to maintain wildlife access to corridors. This bill takes it a step further, working directly with farmers to protect migration corridors during migration seasons while respecting private property rights,” Zinke said. “We all know that animals go where animals want to go, and more often than not, that's dependent upon natural features like water, terrain and vegetation, rather than whether land is owned by the BLM, state, or private landowners. Farmers and ranchers are some of the best conservationists I know. Few are more reliant on a healthy landscape than our producers and growers. I appreciate Congressman Vasquez working with me again to prove that some issues are above red or blue, and are just red white and blue.”
“Private landowners and agricultural producers in New Mexico and across the West play a key role in our effort to increase habitat connectivity and improve wildlife migration,” said Heinrich. “I'm proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Representatives Vasquez and Zinke to invest in proven USDA conservation practices and encourage land stewards to embrace new tools like virtual fencing to help us protect iconic big game species like pronghorn antelope, Rocky Mountain elk, and mule deer.”
The quintessential live Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons' album, Mouthful of Copper, was re-issued for the first time on vinyl by Terminus Records today, just over 20 years since it was originally released. The remastered album will be released as a 5-LP set that includes a bonus LP of unreleased songs from the same historic Butte, MT run of shows in 2002. Recorded by the legendary Betty Cantor-Jackson who produced and engineered classic records by the Grateful Dead including: Workingman’s Dead, Dead Set, Live Dead, Reckoning and several Jerry Garcia solo projects, the album is available on 140 gram black vinyl (HERE) or the limited edition 180 gram metallic copper vinyl (HERE).
Mouthful of Copper captures the magic and power of the band’s legendary live shows. The Portland, Oregon based trio, that in 2002 consisted of Jerry Joseph on guitar and lead vocals, Junior Ruppel on bass and Brad Rosen on drums, recorded Mouthful of Copper in Butte, Montana over three nights in August 2002. No guests, no fancy stage props, no frills --what you get is a powerful and visionary rock band captured in their prime delivering classic performances to a fortunate audience in the Badlands of Montana.
Mouthful of Copper has long been a hallowed album for fans of the Jackmormons that showcases the prolific songwriting skills of Jerry Joseph and embodies a characteristic mix of the sacred and profane. Although unreleased at the time, many of the songs were already beloved by audiences when it was recorded while others have since become more celebrated. Widespread Panic has performed and recorded several Jerry Joseph songs over the years including “Climb to Safety”, “Chainsaw City” and “North”, all of which appear on Mouthful of Copper. The songs from MOC continue to be frequent requests from fans at live shows and show up often on Joseph’s setlists, but most still have not appeared on a studio album so these live recordings remain the definitive versions of most of these songs.
Looking back on the landmark album Joseph remarks, “Many times in my life, I’ve been involved in something that I hadn’t taken the time to remotely consider what I was doing.
There was an idea, ‘let’s record a live record in Butte’, Butte being a place that was integral to the conception story of the Jackmormons. It’s important to remember that the term 86’d comes from the days there were 86 bars in Butte and getting kicked out of them all meant you were 86d and with that vibe in mind, the shows came together quickly. Betty Cantor signed on, green light, the place was packed with every lunatic from 100 miles around plus our fly in fans and we just did what we did, I’d never really thought about the result, until years later it was talked about like some Holy Grail of JMO recordings. I should probably sit down and listen to the damn thing. The box is gorgeous and the song selection is crazy even for me, half (or more) of the material was new, much of it never made it to a proper studio until we started recording our Steve Drizos produced Panther Tracks. I’m very grateful there’s a document of the Junior Ruppel, Brad Rosen and me Trio. All I know is when I put the vinyl box set on my stack of new LPs , it melted the other records and Terminus won’t cut me a check to replace them, it’s a fuck ton of energy. Hope you like it!”
Joseph has been busy these past few year. In 2020, Joseph released the critically acclaimed The Beautiful Madness. Produced by Patterson Hood with Drive-By Truckers as his backing band, the album received rave reviews from the media including being chosen Americana Album of the Month by Uncut Magazine, in the Top 20 of 2020 by Glide Magazine and one of the Top Albums of 2020 by Paste Magazine. Uncut Magazine called it, "An album for the times,” and Patterson wrote in the liner notes, "Jerry, to me is a cult figure who could, in some alternate reality, have easily been one of the biggest stars in the world. One of the greatest live performers I have ever seen and long one of my favorite songwriters.”
Joseph’s most recent album, Baby, You’re The Man Who Would Be King was released on September 29, 2023. Recorded in NYC and produced by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel, the album features a band made up of some of New York’s best players. "Music lovers should have all eyes on this cross-pollination right now — what better and more complementary duo is out there that could come close to rivaling this team of Jerry Joseph and Eric Ambel in terms of having such disparate strengths?" (Americana Highways)
Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons will be returning to the scene of the crime, playing a 3-night album release run in Butte, May 31 at Butte Covelite Theatre and June 1&2 at Butte Depot (tickets here). Original Jackmormons members Junior Ruppel and Brad Rosen will be in attendance for at least one of these shows. For more information on these shows and other tour dates, check out his tour schedule at JerryJoseph.com.
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Definitely not the quality it used to be. Mint cholate chip just has big chunks of chips stuck together not throughout the nearly mint flavored ice cream. Sorry you’ve lost me
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