Felony Charges Filed Against New Mexico Landowner for Threatening Anglers with Shotgun 🔫

I’m currently at the “it’s Thursday already?” phase of the workweek and am unsure as to whether or not that is a good thing as of yet.

With that in mind, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get this Thursday morning dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

THIS AIN’T HIS FIRST RODEO EITHER
FELONY ASSAULT CHARGES FILED AGAINST NEW MEXICO LANDOWNER FOR THREATENING ANGLERS WITH A SHOTGUN

The clear, cold waters of the Pecos River wind through the canyons and foothills of northern New Mexico, a storied trout fishery that has drawn anglers for generations. But for the past several years, a stretch near Terrero in San Miguel County has become the site of something far less peaceful. The traditionally tranquil waters have since been disturbed by repeated confrontations between fishermen exercising their legal right to wade and recreate in public waters, and a landowner hell-bent on keeping them out.

On June 1st, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced criminal charges against 65 year-old Erik Michael Briones, the owner of property along the river. Briones faces five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (all felonies), stemming from allegations that he repeatedly threatened anglers with firearms between April 2023 and March 2026…

🐓 Montana Teenager Blasts Grizzly Bear in Backyard Encounter. In Huson, Montana, 15-year-old Colton Richardson shot and killed a grizzly bear that charged him in his family’s backyard after it broke into their chicken coop earlier this month. Hearing a commotion out in the yard in the early evening hours, Colten approached the coop and was suddenly confronted by the bear, which came huffing around the corner.

Thankfully, Colton was accompanied by his .270 rifle and made a solid first shot, knowing it might be his only chance. The bear fled a short distance before collapsing in a nearby ditch.

The family initially believed the intruder was a cinnamon-phase black bear, until they rolled it out and discovered it was a grizzly bear. Upon the discovery, the family contacted Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, which is now investigating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

🧐 Mike Lee’s Latest Backroom Rider Aims to Permanently Gut Roadless Rule. Yesterday morning, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved an amendment by Utah Senator Mike Lee that would permanently nullify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Attached as a rider to Senator John Barrasso’s Wildfire Prevention Act, the measure passed on a strict 11-9 party-line vote with no public hearing or advance notice. The amendment not only repeals protections for approximately 45 million acres of roadless national forest land across 37 states but also prohibits the Forest Service from issuing similar protections in the future.

The Roadless Rule, established in 2001 after an unprecedented public comment period with over 1.6 million responses (the vast majority in favor), safeguards some of the country’s most pristine backcountry. Proponents of the repeal argue it hinders active forest management and wildfire mitigation, while critics see the secretive process and permanent statutory repeal as a major blow to public lands conservation that bypasses normal rule making, environmental review, and future administrative flexibility.

The full Senate has yet to vote on the underlying bill, and significant opposition from conservation groups, anglers, hunters, and some Western stakeholders is already building.

🦈 Third Spearfisherman Killed in Australia’s Brutal Four-Week Shark Attack Spree. 35-year-old spearfisherman Daniel Turpin was killed last Saturday while diving with family members off Michaelmas Island near Albany in Western Australia. He was attacked before noon by a suspected 15-foot great white shark and could not be revived after being brought ashore.

This marks Australia’s third fatal shark attack on spearfishers in just four weeks. The recent killing comes on the heels of two previous incidents, including a spearfisher killed on the Great Barrier Reef on May 24th and another off Rottnest Island on May 16th. Local commercial fishermen in the area noted that there has been a spike in shark activity in the area recently, something they believe is a by product of sharks chasing the sardine and salmon along the coast.

The deadly spate is especially striking in a country that typically sees an average of just three shark-related deaths per year.

🍽️ One moment you’re watching a pair of cubs saunter down the road. The next moment, you see mom trying to make lunch.

Hell of a chance encounter…

🪸 The Reef Rebel: Everyone had a noble steed that carried them to battle. Whether metaphorical or actual is completely dependent on what millennia you hail from. I had many noble steeds growing up.

A few notable ones would be my Powell Peralta Mike McGill skateboard. It got me around town and onto some of the sweetest ramps around. Never did find that Animal Chin. When not scooting around town on my board, you’d find me on my GT Mach One BMX bike. I loved that thing. All chromed out and clean. It was the epitome of BMX bikes. That carried me much farther than my previous modes of transportation and allowed me to pull off some of the raddest tricks. Girls loved it. At least they did in the movies. Who wouldn’t want to woo Lori Loughlin?

As I got a little older and started getting into fishing more, my sights changed, and my steed needed to adapt to the water.

Enter the Reef Rebel. Read the full story.

🐺 Wolving (with complications): The average Montana ranch furnishes sufficient occupation to keep a man busy during most of the light hours of about six and a half days a week, and when the half day of “rest and gladness” that marks the Sabbath afternoon comes around, one is as apt as not to saddle up and combine business with pleasure in a “wolving” expedition. 

“Wolving,” be it explained, consists in ranging the hills intent upon the extermination of that wily depredator of calves, the timber wolf, and his more furtive, but almost equally destructive, cousin, the coyote. 

Hence, it was perfectly natural that a balmy Sunday afternoon in August should find Spike and me mounted for the chase and trotting out through the corrals in a cloud of fine dust.  Read the full story.

🪙 The Offering (Take a Penny, Leave a Penny) : I stood on the shore of Onaman Lake, staring across the water one last time. It had been a good trip; it was going to be hard to leave. Like most in the area, you have to fly in and, once there, you’re surrounded by nothing but dense forest, islands, and a whole lot of water. Onaman Lake Lodge, the only one on the lake, is on Picnic Island, a heart-shaped hunk of rock more or less at the halfway point of Onaman’s 28,000 acres.

My hand wrapped around the penny in my pocket, dated 2023, and with what I can only describe as the Captain America shield on the “tails” side. I had been waiting for this moment all week, trying to think of the perfect time to return it, but never felt right. Eventually, I decided the last walk to the lookout spot was the perfect place. There, I said a few words of thanks, made a wish, flipped the penny into the water, and watched it sink into the depths. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…