Congratulations Mr. Speaker

I know by the time you read this that all the major news outlets and daily papers will have already made the announcement but I would like to personally congratulate Representative T.W. Shannon for becoming Speaker-designate for the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Every now and then somebody shows up on the political scene that just seems to kinda’ have natural electability. It always on the surface looks like those folks kinda’ fall into it but most of the time it’s kinda’ like the analogy of the duck. While they look like they are gliding effortlessly across the water, just below the surface they are paddling like crazy. Let’s go back a few years to my first relationship with a young high school senior named T.W. Shannon. I was the Ag. teacher at Lawton high school for 9 years, from 1988 to 1996. In that short span of years I, as well as my co-sponsor Mrs. Sue Wiginton, sponsored the senior class two different times. There was a tall young African American man who you just kinda’ had a feeling was headed for something big, just his natural charisma and his good looks and just that little something that made him stand above the crowd. T.W. had it back in those days and he’s got it now. It looks like the vote was taken Monday in the republican house caucus and in about a year he will be the new Speaker of the House. Representative Shannon has worked his tail off over the last year to earn the respect and trust of the republican house caucus. He left no stone unturned, he reached out to every single member, even those opposed to him including his actual opponents. He was thorough and very systematic in his approach. T.W. Shannon does not come from any kind of political legacy he just kinda’ did it the old fashioned way, he worked at it. He spent time as a field rep. for Congressman JC Watts and Congressman Tom Cole. He’s been a quick study in the political game. He’s blessed with above average intelligence and I hope that he will be a uniter of the republican caucus as we move forward. He’s a strong conservative but with enough sense to know that we still have a state to run and that the train must run on time. Speaker -designate Shannon will not actually take the reigns in the House until the current Speaker Kris Steele finishes his two year term as Speaker of the House. The Speaker -designate position was created to allow the designate to study under the seated Speaker so that the transition can be smoother.

Some will say that T.W. Shannon may be a little young to be the Speaker of the House and one could argue that point and not be too far off base but term limits, which everyone clamored for a few years ago, have created this new dynamic. It creates a conveyer belt if you will, that is 12 years long. Gone are the days of 20 year political careers in the House or Senate. We now have a fast track and it has totally changed the complexion of the Oklahoma legislature. A young member that hits that conveyer belt at a run and has some political background doesn’t have quite as much to learn and can sometimes be propelled forward and gain momentum early in their career, especially one who has the charisma and the overall perfect political package that Shannon possesses. I told him early in the process that I would support him in his quest to be Speaker but that I also would reserve the right to box his ears if I saw him heading down the wrong road. In this new political environment in Oklahoma, I’m an old guy, having been in the legislature for 10 years. I told T.W. that I was heading into my last term and that if he won I really had nothing to lose in jerking his reigns and have no fear of doing just that. I think he’s extremely bright and won’t need much of that and I hope and pray he’s the natural born leader that I think he is.

Historically it’s very difficult for anyone in Western Oklahoma to win an election to represent the whole state. We’ve had only a handful in the history of Oklahoma politics. One was former speaker Lloyd Benson and another was former Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins. If you look back through the history books of Oklahoma politics, few Western Oklahoma members win elections to state wide positions. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Western Oklahoma is more sparsely populated and the votes are much more concentrated East of I-35. Another historical road block that TW Shannon will have to overcome is the fact that the only Speaker to ever go on to any elected office higher than that was Alfalfa Bill Murray and that’s been way before any of our time. I believe this young man has the ability, the charisma and the political savvy to even rewrite that part of Oklahoma history one day. Time will tell and in the meantime we will chalk up a win for Southwest Oklahoma. Once again we are in the game. Congratulations Speaker-designate Shannon. We’re proud of you.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not. ~Author Unknown

A Nice Rain

I don’t know what we did to prime the pump but we finally got what may have been a life saving rain. I dumped out three inches at our place and I’ve heard reports from friends, anywhere from two to as much as four inches. There’s been a lot of wheat planted in this country over the last few weeks and this rain may have been just what the doctor ordered to at least have a chance to get some wheat up. It was actually foggy Monday morning about daylight. We haven’t had enough moisture in many months to create fog. There’s a little water in the bar ditches and at least early today there was some water standing in the drill rows. I heard one of the local weathermen say that it looked like the grass was trying to green up even while the rain was still falling. We’re not out of the woods by any means. There was very minimal runoff. So we still have a critical shortage of pond water. But there’s something kinda refreshing about a good solid rain and the optimism it can bring. If a cattle producer can grow even a little bit of wheat it can help get a set of cows thru the winter, for those of us lucky enough to have any left. The critical part of this will be how much rain follows but its mighty encouraging pouring three inches out of a gauge. It does provide some much needed optimism in our old parched corner of the state.

This rain did more than just settle the dust which seemed to be all we could get over the summer. This one could be the one that saves the agriculture economy in southwest Oklahoma. And we’re extremely thankful to have received it. Don’t let up prayin for more because we’re certainly not out of the woods but that little light at the end of the tunnel just got brighter.

We’ve been extremely busy over the past few weeks with plenty of things non political which can be as refreshing as a good rain. We’ve had at least one wedding per weekend for the last five weeks and seen a lot of young people start lives together with all the hope and anticipation that comes with a young couple getting married. I’ve seen several dads that looked a little bit vapor locked as they tried to figure out how to pay for these shindigs and guys I’m not makin fun at all. I’m very sympathetic cuz I know that I have a 23 year old daughter as well as an 18 year old daughter and I know my turn’s comin. It’s like the old standard joke says. It would be cheaper to buy them a pair of plane tickets to Vegas than it would be to put on the dog like some of you have. But of course it’s easy for us guys to stand back and talk that trash when we know we only want the best for our daughters.

My partners and I have also been very busy adding a little cowboy flavor to several different events with our chuckwagon. One of the highlights was a week ago last Friday when Class 25 of Leadership Oklahoma made their annual stop at Ft. Sill where they got a first hand glimpse at what a strong military economy looks like and also had up close and personal visits with actual soldiers and their families, which gives these leaders from across the state a little better way to understand the sacrifices that a military family makes to keep us free. It’s a very important message to deliver and Ft. Sill, from the Commanding General on down, do a wonderful job of hosting this event. Here in Southwest Oklahoma we’re blessed to have two major military installations and most people realize how important the air base at Altus and the army post at Ft. Sill can be to the Southwest Oklahoma economy and actually to the whole state.

We talked last week about the race for the White House and I’m still watching with great interest as that race shapes up. It’s a little like dirt track stock car racing. Seems like somebody can be way out in the lead and all of a sudden they blow an engine. And then they’re back to the pits and all of a sudden there’s a new leader. I think if you care about my analyses I’d be watching Cain very closely. Seems to be very astute, extremely literate and while this is in no way an endorsement of any kind I think he bears watching. And I’m still not sure Perry’s not out of it yet. It’ll be lots of fun as this race continues and the dust settles, not only on the political landscape but as it finally has on the Oklahoma landscape.

And here’s a little something to think about as you’re goin down the road.

Every day may not be good but there’s something good in every day.
Author Unknown

Smash Mouth Politics

As somewhat of a political insider I might have a little bit different perspective than the average person of the political process in general. The biggest philosophical battle that I deal with inside my own head is to not become jaded and negative to the whole thing. Now I don’t mean I’m smarter than you or better or any of that, all I mean is simply the view from the inside is much different because I know a lot of the dynamics that occur. I’ve watched with some interest as we try to select the right person to get Obama out of office there seems to be a pretty clear message coming from America that says that needs to happen. The question is who will it be? The next thing we have to ask ourselves as a country is can whoever we pick to run against an incumbent president win? Now before I start chewing us out let me say that this is still the greatest country in the world and I certainly don’t wanna’ live anywhere else I just wish we could select a candidate without slashing and burning everything in our path. Rick Perry seemed at one point to have a decent shot but the media started in on him and to hear people talk you’d think he is a blubbering idiot. I don’t think you can be Governor of a state the size of Texas as long as he has been there and be stupid. I’ve heard him speak in a fairly small meeting where we were able to ask questions and interact and I’ll tell ya’ the guy is pretty impressive and you can’t overlook the fact that the Texas economy is pretty solid. I’m still not convinced he wouldn’t make a fair president but the damage the media can do from the left pales in comparison to the damage in character assassination that we inflict from the right. I’m not sure that we on the right won’t scare off anybody of any quality. Then all of a sudden the powers that be, whoever the heck that is, decide that we need to push New Jersey Governor Chris Christie toward the nomination. I don’t know a lot about him but I kinda’ like the guy, he’s kind of a no nonsense common sense Governor, pretty plain spoken, doesn’t seem to have a lot of patience for idiots which I have to admit kinda’ appeals to me. I don’t know for sure how conservative he is or isn’t but I think even though he’s from New Jersey, he seems to be the type of person that might understand “cowboy logic.” So what do we do, we start calling him fat. I mean the guy hasn’t even said he’s running and we start picking on him because he’s a portly gent. I mean come on people the last I checked there are no super humans out there that run for these offices, these are human beings with families but we tend to wanna’ chew them up and spit em’ out, stomp em’ to death and cuss em’. Makes me wonder again, are we smart enough to pick someone who can win whose enough of a conservative to get the nomination but yet centrist enough to win the election? I mean really do we even know what we want? I can tell ya’ from experience that there’s a great deal of stress involved in this business of politics and a guy like Christie who struggles with his weight is definitely gonna’ dive into some comfort food every now and then, it’s just how it is. I’ve been there. I think what our country did to former President George W. Bush is unforgivable. Something has changed in the political process and I think we’ve lost our manners. I think we’ve come to a point in our country that it is not enough to disagree we have to inflict pain and bodily harm. It’s not enough just to kill a guy we have to dismember him as well. It’s a wonder we can get anybody to run for anything from city council on up because our country has become very mean spirited and the rules of engagement have totally changed. As a matter of fact, and I’m gonna’ go out on a limb here, I’m certainly not a fan of Obama, his healthcare mess, or his thoughts that we can tax ourselves into prosperity but I don’t think that gives me or anyone else the right to impugn the person. It seems we think we have a license to do that now.

There seems to be some interest in a new candidate by the name of Cain. He’s an African American gentleman, seems pretty conservative and may be pretty solid, might could have a shot but we’ve only begun to dismantle him. I’m sure if you look hard enough he’ll have some warts as well and I’m sure that we’ll have him beat to a pulp in short order because it seems that that’s just how we roll. But obviously that is part of the political process at least in this new environment that we find ourselves in. I guess we call it the pressure test. If we apply enough pressure and the guy can stand it maybe that’s how it should be but it just really seems like there ought to be a better way. I think maybe the smartest one in the whole game is Sarah Palin. We treated her as bad as I’ve ever seen anyone treated and I think what she’s doing is laughing all the way to the bank. She’s definitely a political force, probably no way in the world she would ever run for President and I’m not sure we deserve her. I know we must change the complexion of Washington, that’s a given I just hope that whoever survives the beating can win. It seems that we loose track of the mission from time to time and I’m not sure why anybody would want to go through that but there seems to be no shortage of folks willing to be beat to a pulp so I guess the beatings will continue until morale improves. Lord, help us.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so. ~Gore Vidal

Too many legislators?

Last week as a member of the rules committee, I attended an interim study to examine a proposal by Representative Gary Banz of Midwest City. Representative Banz intends to amend his House joint resolution 1021 in the 2012 session to send a constitutional amendment to the voters that would reduce the Oklahoma legislature by approximately 10%. What that would mean, in numbers of House members, is that it would reduce 101 representatives down to 91. It would reduce the number of State Senators from the current 48 down to 43. The House fiscal staff estimated that this could reduce legislative expenses by approximately 1.2million dollars annually which at first glance sounds great, especially if you say it real fast. There are several schools of thought on this issue and before I go any further, let me say that in my opinion Gary Banz is a good man. I consider him well intentioned and I believe that he has no malice in his heart toward any specific legislators or particular districts. Gary Banz is a former educator and I am thoroughly convinced that it is nothing more than a mathematical equation. There are some venomous attacks from some concerned groups on his character which I believe are totally unwarranted. I know Gary well and I know that he just sees this as a cost savings and an opportunity to reduce the size of government. That being said let me give you a rural legislator’s perspective on why this may not be such a good idea. First of all, I was the chairman of the Southwest region last session when we drew the new maps and I saw first hand the size and square miles of many of the rural districts. My concern is that you can overburden a rural legislator because many times rural districts are comprised of several hundred square miles. When I had House staff give me a rough estimate of the square miles of my district it was about 1500 square miles with numerous school districts and taking in two county seats. There is a stark difference between an urban district that may be made up of square blocks. Now this measure, should it pass, really will not affect me because I will be termed out before it could possibly take effect, but if you’ve ever tried to make all the different civic events and school functions, parades and festivals in a rural district you’ll know exactly what I mean. I’ve got ten school districts in district 63 and in each of those communities they like to see their Senator or Representative from time to time and if you don’t make the rounds often times they get offended. In rural districts folks usually at least know who their legislators are and in many cases they know them personally. Its much like living in the country, you probably know your neighbor a mile down the road and in many big cities people may not know the neighbor next door. I believe that Representative Banz may not be as in touch with the size and scale of rural districts. Again, as I said earlier I don’t think he intends any harm I just think, to him, the mathematical equation says we will save money. There is another school of thought that some have expressed that says that some folks will be under represented and that it will make it tougher to gain access to legislators and I might tend to agree due to the size of districts that will be created. Under Representative Banz’ proposal the average number of constituents per House district would increase from today’s 37, 142 to 41,224. This would add about 4,000 people for a House member to have to reach, or from the other side of the equation, it would be 4,000 more people that would have to struggle for access to their Representative. Senate districts would increase from 78,153 to 87,241 constituents. If this measure went to the vote of the people in November 2012, the change would be implemented in 2021 following the next census and redistricting process.

Banz contends that many other state legislatures have districts of similar size noting that legislators in 28 other states currently represent more constituents per capita than Oklahoma lawmakers do. Two figures tossed out for consideration were that in 1921 in Oklahoma there were just 92 seats in the House but in 1953 there were 124 members in the State House. Banz also feels that with technological changes in communication over the past several years that access to government officials and the governing process is easier than any other time in our state’s history. While he is technically correct I still think we have to be extremely careful to not make the job of being an Oklahoma legislator so cumbersome that we cannot get good people to run. We need to be very cognizant of anything we create as far as obstacles.

I know that many of you, at first glance, think that any time we can shrink government its better. I think we need to think on this one long and hard and look at all the possible scenarios before we jump off this cliff. I’d be interested to hear how some of you see it. Love to hear from ya’ just shoot us an email with your thoughts.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.- Ernest Benn

Finally!

I usually try to write this article on Friday because it sure cuts down on the stress for both me and my assistant on Monday when the deadline for the local paper is looming. Last Friday morning I was in a little bit better mood for our weekly visit because at the official rain gauge at the Armes’ place, which is universally recognized as the one I live and die by, I dumped out an inch of rain. We had received 2/10 of an inch on Thursday and 8/10 of and inch on Thursday night and Friday morning. It was the right kind, good and slow and the temps were cool enough that it wasn’t gonna’ just bake right out of the soil. The skies were gray and it was about 55 degrees with prospects of more to come through the weekend. So, by the time you read this on Wednesday or Thursday, I hope we got more than that. Now this is not a license to start playing with matches and I had to fight the urge to go ahead and burn my feed sacks and round bail twine because technically we’re still in a burn ban and my burn barrel is over flowing. But at least maybe the pump is primed and we have a chance to green up some grass. It’s by no means a drought buster but it sure looks good to see a few puddles around because this has been the worst drought of my lifetime and many of you who are years older than me have never seen it this bad either. No we’re not out of the woods but there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Cooler temperatures have already got folks moving a little better. It’s been nice to be able to work in the afternoons and not have to deal with the stifling heat. I think the whole world will just be more productive over the next few weeks. The crispness in the air makes it a lot easier to think about things like football and things we should be thinking about this time of year. And I believe there is cause for optimism on a lot of fronts. Rain brings the country back to life a little bit and increases the chances for wheat pasture and some things we have to have in this country. Even the state budget, which has been extremely tough over the last year or so, seems to be on the way up. Reports we are getting from the State Treasurer’s office is that things are improving which always tends to perk folks up a little, especially those that live and die by state dollars. Now I don’t have any of the figures in front of me but it seems the state income is clipping along at a pretty good rate and tax collections seem to be up a little. Fuel prices are still pretty stout which, as I’ve said many times before, is a two edged sword. I always seem to mumble a few mild expletives under my voice when I fill up my diesel pickup which is around $80 if I’ve let it get very low. If any of you have seen me out and around in my old silver Crown Victoria, that rig gets a lot better gas mileage and gas is still cheaper than diesel. So unless I’ve gotta’ have a pickup I swallow my pride and forget about how many cool points it’s costing and suck it up and drive the old Crown but with those higher fuel prices come accelerated state dollars which can be good and bad for schools and county commissioners and folks like that who rely on state dollars but yet consume pretty large quantities of diesel and gas. Whoops, I was slipping back into pessimism again, I apologize. Did I mention the fact that it rained? And by the way, when I started this article I pulled back into the house to get something from my shop and I checked the rain gauge and we got another 2/10, still have cloudy skies and still more chance of rain through the weekend so I guess all those prayers for rain may have been finally answered, but Lord, at the risk of getting struck by lightening do you think you could work in 4 inches? We could really use it.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger. ~Saint Basil

Terrorists, You’d Better Stick with Big Cities

This past week I’ve seen two really good examples of why I live in Southwest Oklahoma while I don’t think Southwest Oklahoma has a corner on this market maybe its just small town America in general but I like it. The first example was the refuge fire that started near Meers and moved around the mountains and headed for Indiahoma. The original command center was at the Meers fire department and by the end of the Labor Day weekend the command center was moved to the Indiahoma School. Having already seen first hand the destructive power of this fire I made my way out there Monday evening like I usually do when there is an incident, to check in with the civil defense director just to make sure that the state resources were where they need to be, because if I don’t and they’re not, I get the call. As I arrived at the Indiahoma School it was a flurry of activity, firefighters coming and going FFA kids carrying ice chests and water jugs and when you walked in the door you noticed the piles and piles of food, sandwiches, chips, homemade pies, Gatorade, water by the pallet load and enough help to float a battleship. Nobody looking for credit just pulling together as a community to make sure no firefighters were hungry or not well cared for. After all, the town of Indiahoma has a volunteer fire department and they “get it.” These guys are not getting paid, many of them are missing work or at the very least their Labor Day weekend to come to the driest corner of the state, the epicenter of the drought to fight a very dangerous wildfire. There is no way that a town like Indiahoma is not gonna’ show their gratitude to these guys and that’s how it should be. The funny part is, and I hate to use the term funny because it really might not have been, but the FFA moms kind of got sideways with the Red Cross. Now before you start saying that Armes was bad mouthing the Red Cross, as my daughter used to say “you better check yourself before you wreck yourself” my mother was and still is a Red Cross nurse and I’ve been given strict instructions on what is to happen to her Red Cross pin upon her death. It is a wonderful organization that does good things in times of disaster but there was no way that the Red Cross lady was any way, shape or form ready for the Indiahoma FFA moms. Those FFA moms are used to putting on feeds and having fund raisers and all that and really, in essence I’m not sure they needed the Red Cross. The Red Cross is good at helping in times of disaster but they don’t have the man power and in this instance the Indiahoma FFA provided the man power. Actually there was quite a little rub between the two. The Red Cross has guidelines on how to take care of the situation and how to get resources to the right place. The Indiahoma FFA moms DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ GUIDELINES, their guideline is “git-r-done.” And they did, they “got-r-done” and in good order I might add. One of the funniest incidents and I know you want me to name names and I’m not going to, was when a couple of five gallon igloo water jugs showed up from a local retailer out of Lawton. Team mom immediately grabbed the jugs and started filling them with water and ice. The lady from team Red Cross said “wait, wait, don’t do that” team mom says “what do you mean?” Team Red Cross says “those are supposed to go to the fire fighters” team moms flippant response back to the Red Cross was “well, don’t you think they want something in them?” The reason I use this illustration is not only to brag on the town of Indiahoma for their rapid response to a very real need but just to try to show how well a small town pulls together at a moments notice to get a job done or to help defend against a natural disaster, in this case fire. As I said in last weeks column a lot of people deserve lots of credit for a lot of things. This was the kind of fire we only read about and we had one here and lots of people helped at every level.

The second illustration that I saw this week was the cohesiveness of a small community when the town of Chattanooga rallied around the family of their police chief Tommy Reed who died last week in a motorcycle accident. I knew Tommy fairly well and he was a really, really good man. In fact he’d been the police chief for over 25 years and in that length of time he’d raised an entire community from the knot head stage to adulthood. Tommy loved his community and as the law of the town he was an authority figure to a couple of generations of kids. Tommy, I think ,in his mild mannered way as story after story were told at his funeral, sort of lovingly jerked a knot in the tail of many a young person growing up in Chattanooga that might’ve had a lead foot or some other ailment of youth and I guess in essence he kind a’ raised the whole town. As the residents of Chattanooga can attest, Tommy watched over that tight knit community not like an employee but like a father. After all, he was no outsider, it was his community too. He was always trying to help by working on peoples’ vehicles and never charging enough, he drove the afternoon school bus and just sort of cobbled together a living so that he could remain in the hometown that he loved. Tommy was a good one and he loved Chattanooga and Chattanooga loved him and it was very evident as the whole community surrounded his family with love and support at his passing.

Yeah, I think if I were a terrorist I’d probably steer clear of the small towns because in our community when you take on one you take on the whole bunch.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ~Kenyan Proverb

Fire On the Mountain.

Last Thursday as I headed home from an interim study at the Capitol I received word that one of my friends might be in jeopardy due to a fire that started on the wildlife refuge and had progressed toward Meers and the Mt. Village neighborhood which is just East of my friends place on scenic Highway 115. Of course I’m in a suit and was ill prepared to render much aid because I was in my car and not my pickup and was over an hour away but when I called and reached the Cooks’ Tammy was frantic and said that the fire had burned almost half way down Tarbone Mountain. Their place is called the Tarbone Ranch and it is a veritable paradise where our family has spent numerous weekends and many enjoyable campouts when our kids were in school together. When I asked if they needed anything her response was “I don’t even know.” I decided at that point that I was pretty useless in my car so I decided to go home and get on some work clothes and of course get a pickup. In the meantime, I fought the urge to go on out but I knew I had a friend who might be in jeopardy and I couldn’t just sit there. So I sent her a text and said “are you hangin’ on?” When I didn’t get a response the decision was made. I looked at Dede and said “I’m going” and she said “you probably can’t get in” I said “I bet I can.” So off I went long sleeved shirt, gloves, and toe sacks in the back of the pickup not knowing what I’d find when I got there or if I could be of any help but was dead set that I was gonna’ try. Fearing the worst I headed toward Meers. By this time the sun was low in the West as I approached the mountains I could see the glow of the fire on the horizon. I knew the wind had been a factor and was afraid that it might’ve blown the fire right into them. As I approached the Meers store from the East I fully expected a road block and found nothing but could smell smoke and knew that just around the bend would be flashing lights. By this time dark was setting very quickly and I continued, reaching the Meers store all seemed well and I made the curve, headed north, still no flashing lights or fire fighting vehicles. It was almost eerie as I knew full well there was a major fire and the question was where is this fire? I proceeded North to the curve and could see the lights on top of the wind generators but still no fire and then as I turned back West and made a couple of miles I topped the hill and at the entrance of Mt. Village were several emergency vehicles with lights flashing and as I got closer to the Cooks’ corner, right at their gate, I saw a sea of flashing red and blue and I have to tell ya’ I feared the worst. The last time I had talked to the Cooks’ Tammy said she was wetting down the house with water hoses and Ken was trying to plow a fire break around their house which is nestled in the middle of the beautiful 300 acre Tarbone Ranch surrounded by scrub oak, native grassland and some awfully rough terrain. I was relieved to see another long time friend Brian Demarcus whose ranch gate opens just a hundred yards or so from the Cooks’ gate and when I got out I asked Brian if everyone was ok and he said yes, the fire seemed to be moving East. At that point the wildlife refuge fire crew who seemed to be coordinating the effort was trying to decide how best to attack this huge fire that seemed to be engulfing the whole area and they were getting the logistics together on where to send dozers and graders and how to set strategically placed back fires to do their best to consume the fuel in the path of the fire to have a chance to stop natures fury. By this time I was close enough to Tarbone Mountain to look south and see flames as it burned its way down toward Tarbone Ranch and the Demarcus place and several other surrounding areas. It was eerie in the dark as you looked towards Tarbone you couldn’t help but think that must be what a volcano must look like as it erupts and the liquid fire and molten lava washes down the gullies of a mountain range. Fire in the mountains is a much different animal than a flat land range fire. The biggest challenge is accessibility. The biggest worry in a flat land fire is possibly running a truck into an unseen gully or hitting a tree stump in the dark. In the mountains many times you can’t even get the truck to the fire so it makes the job of saving homes and property even tougher. The chances of getting trapped in a mountain fire are even greater as well as many other hazards most people would not even think about such as rattlesnake bites from an angry reptile whose sleep was interrupted by the fire and is running just as scared as any other animal in that forested area. Of course by this time of night many of the volunteer fire fighters on hand had already put in a days work at their jobs and were looking at a long night of trying to save property and people. It’s just been one of those years. As I’ve said before there’s not much fuel at my house as our pastures are grazed slicker than a cue ball but in those mountains there is enough fuel to reek havoc and that’s exactly what it was doing. I headed home late Thursday night with the Cooks’ at least temporarily safe and prayed for the wind to lay which it finally did and called back Friday morning to check the status only to find out it seemed the fire had gotten closer to them but at least in the daylight there’s a chance and a little bit less risk of injury from hazards hidden in the dark. Little did I know that later that afternoon I would be in the middle of one of the wildest fires I’ve ever seen in my life. The wind had shifted and picked up and some of the areas like Mt. Village and Tarbone were now directly in the path of the fire with the excessive wind and extreme dry conditions things had changed dramatically. Road blocks had been set up and evacuation was under way. I headed back out about noon working my way back up toward the Cooks’ place. Tammy had gotten the boat and their camper and as many keepsakes as she could and tried to get them far away from the oncoming fire. I finally reached her by phone and she said “the fire is coming; Ken and the boys are still down there trying to save the house.” This time I was dressed for it and headed back to Tarbone for what would become the wildest firefight I’ve ever seen in my life. There were firefighters from all over the place lined up at the Meers fire department filling trucks from tankers that had been staged to make sure that water wasn’t an issue and those trucks were being dispatched as quickly as possible to try and save as many homes as they could. I’ve never seen fire change directions so many times or engulf a grove of trees as furiously as this fire did. There is no way that words can describe the helpless feeling that you get when you see a fire roaring towards you. You’re standing there with a garden hose and a wet toe sack knowing you can’t win and then almost out of nowhere comes a brush truck through the flames just when you thought you’d lose the battle and a building would burn. I could write a book on the events of that afternoon but the good news for the Cooks’ is that we were able to save their house and outbuildings but it burned everything else on that pristine 300 acre wild game reserve. That chapter of the fire claimed eleven houses and absolutely scorched the earth. The fact that any homes were saved is nothing short of a miracle. Day 4 of the fire moved the whole operation West where the fire threatened the Treasure Lake job corps center, Phelan Ranch and even the town of Indiahoma. I went to the command center at the Indiahoma School Monday night and after heading out to the fire with the civil defense director, Clint Wagstaff, I knew that the fire would soon be under control because it was coming out of the mountains. They had cut the fire breaks and done enough back burns and had in essence drawn a big enough line in the sand that would be the point that firefighters gained the upper hand. The command center at Indiahoma, in true small town fashion, was an oasis for tired firefighters. I think every FFA mom that knew how to make sandwiches had set up shop. It was all hands on deck with the FFA kids hauling ice and water and making sure that those tired firefighters had something to eat and a place to cool their heels. It was an amazing atmosphere where everyone did what they could and just flat worked their guts out to contain a wildfire of epic proportions. Who gets the credit? EVERYBODY! I’m a proponent of fire as a range management tool but a controlled burn and a wild land fire under extreme drought conditions are two very different animals. So, by all means, pay attention to every thing you do that involves even the smallest spark. And pray for rain.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
How is it that one match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box of matches to start a campfire? -Christy Whitehead