Sunday, January 12, 2014 Brownwood Bulletin 3A

62ND ANNUAL BROWN COUNTY YOUTH FAIR

Faces of the Fair

construction.com.The transport company

seeking the lease for 3 acres of city property is called Pe Ben USA, a document in the council’s agenda packet states. The company has the contract to haul pipe from the pipe yard on FM 45 to the construction site.

The company needs 3 acres close to the pipe yard. The city has 3 acres cleared across FM 45 from the pipe yard.

Council members will consider approving a three-month lease for $600 a month for the 3 acres.

In June, council members approved a lease of Brown-wood Economic Develop-ment Corp.-owned property of FM 45 with TG Mercer of Aledo, a logistics company that specializes in the trans-port and storage of pipe for the oil and gas industry.

TG Mercer has brought 63 miles of pipe to the property for the Bridge Tex Pipeline. The pipe will be stored for

about 12 months and will be trucked out a few loads per week, council members were told earlier.

Other agenda items for Tuesday’s 9 a.m. meeting include:

• Consider a request from Union Presbyterian Church to waive provisions of the city’s sign ordinance to all the pavement of a billboard at 800 Hawkins and Austin Avenue. City staff is recom-mending that council mem-bers deny the request.

• Consider approving an $84,500 bid to Alpha Contracting of Dallas for roof work on the Brownwood Coliseum.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the police department will accept an award from the National Association of Town Watch as a National Award Winner for the community’s participation in the National Night Out program in 2013.

LEASECONTINUED FROM 1A

BY NOMAAN MERCHANTASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER news@brownwoodbulletin.com

DALLAS (AP) — Hunt the black rhino to save the black rhino.

That’s the Dallas Safari Club’s approach to a fund-raiser for efforts to protect the endangered species. The group hopes to raise more than $200,000 Saturday by auctioning off the right to shoot and kill a black rhinoceros in the African nation of Namibia.

But the auction has drawn howls from critics, includ-ing wildlife and animal rights groups, and the FBI earlier this week said it was investigating death threats against members of the club.

Ben Carter, executive

director of the Safari Club, defended the auction. He said all money raised will go toward rhino conserva-tion efforts. He also said the rhino that the winner will hunt is old, male and nonbreeding — and that the animal was likely to be tar-geted for removal anyway because it was becoming aggressive and threatening other wildlife.

Carter added that wildlife experts say culling a herd is an acceptable habitat management practice.

“In most cases, this ani-mal is detrimental,” Carter said. “He’s past his prime.”

But critics have ques-tioned that logic. Officials from the Humane Society and the International Fund for Animal Welfare have

said that while culling can be appropriate in abundant animal populations, all black rhinos should be pro-tected, given their endan-gered status.

An estimated 4,000 black rhinos remain in the wild, down from 70,000 in the 1960s. Nearly 1,800 are in Namibia, according to the safari club.

Critics have also said any hunting of a rhino sends a bad message to the public.

“This auction is telling the world that an American will pay anything to kill their species,” Jeffrey Flocken, North American regional di-rector of the Massachusetts-based IFAW, said earlier this week. “This is, in fact, mak-ing a spectacle of killing an endangered species.”

The auction was to take place Saturday night in downtown Dallas under tight security and behind closed doors. Organizers hoped to at least break the previous high bid for one of the permits in Namibia, which is $223,000, and had said the amount could be as high as $1 million. The winning bidder could come from anywhere in the world, and at least some

bidders are expected to enter by phone.

Protesters were expected to rally against the auction Saturday.

Carter said he and Safari Club members were del-uged in the days before the auction by angry messages, including the death threats.

“It appears to be an orchestrated series from people who are strongly anti-hunting,” Carter said.

Poachers long have tar-geted all species of rhino, primarily for its horn, which is valuable on the interna-tional black market. Made of the protein keratin, the chief component in finger-nails and hooves, the horn has been used in carvings and for medicinal purposes, mostly in Asia. The near-extinction of the species also has been attributed to habitat loss.

Dallas Safari Club’s rhino hunt draws fire

KEVIN HOLAMON | BROWNWOOD BULLETINKarly Harper (right), Brownwood 4H, accepts her buckle for Grand Champion Mare Satur-day at the Brown County Youth Fair.

KEVIN HOLAMON | BROWNWOOD BULLETINHayden Barker, Early FFA, shows his Grand Champion Gelding Saturday at the Brown County Youth Fair.

Matthew Lewis of Brownwood FFA received a scholarship in memory of long-time Youth Fair supporter, Steve Rumfield, presented by the Rumfield family.

KEVIN HOLAMON | BROWNWOOD BULLETIN

Hans Bonnema of O & B Farms received a plaque in rec-ognition as one of 2013’s top buyers.

KEVIN HOLAMON | BROWNWOOD BULLETIN