bird population decline

1 You started the "tira
de" on cj

2 Ive never said anywhere, that Im proud of people who kill wolves and eagles, so youre guilty of misreading, unless my writing is poor.I have no idea where you get that point AND STOP DOING THAT ((sigh)) you sound like Sister Attila admonishing her fourth grade class when we didnt digram a stupid sentence properly.

3 Nobodys rewriting history-good line though. However, You do agree with me that Roosevelt was instrumental in bison pop stabilization via his initiatives in natural parks. See, we can agree on some things.

Im the one that stated that this thread got hijacked from bird declines to "assault on hunters' so pleeeease cut me some slack here and quit the sweeping statements

NOW, its time for a sweeping statement of my own.

The hunters are THE LEADING FORCE in conservation and anti sprawl, and even so we are losing the fight.Other groups periodically join in because its politically advantageous to them.This year, locally, the GOP county officials were stepping all over themselves to appear "anti sprawl". Yet theyve ignored the Ducks Unlimited guys for years until 2004

I sit on a local planning commission and have been fighting a lonely battle in the areas of interconnecting open spaces so that every stinking development that comes in , doesnt have a lonely open space patch of quilt that is surrounded by layers of vinyl clad houses. Many of us want to see that one developments open space connects to that of another so that deep woods nesting birds can have their spaces too and that game trails are preserved.
The fight for habitat preservation is being lost in the mid Atlantic states(even though the populations arent really growing, merely shuffling around). Many birds that nest in the deep woods are being forced out and there aint a damn thing that we can do.Most legislators are in the pockets of the homebuilders associations, who dont want any land use changes or additional regulation.
Im glad if we can get back to the bird issue.

Sister Attila?

I didn't start the tirade on cjhsa... he asked if anyone could prove him wrong. That post sat there for a while and nobody answered it. Apparently he thought that he was right. I don't think he is. In my opinion, hunters killed off nearly every extinct species they could get their hands on. That they've changed now... is evolution, I guess. Certainly, and as cj says, it is the selfish appeal of wanting to kill more.

You didn't say that you were proud to kill eagles & wolves... what you said was you had good authority that ranchers were doing so. I said you might be one of them. I apologize if I misread what you were saying. I have no idea what you are thinking... or doing. It seemed a fairly weird thing to be offer up on a conservation thread.

And... plenty of people are trying to rewrite history.

Sweeping generalization, btw. Is this supposed to be a how-long-is-yours competition? Why? What's the point? I am pleased that DU has done what they have. Please remember that they fall heavily on the shoulders of government. That's all of us, right? The conservation easements get tax benefits, the state wildlife departments are funded by tax dollars. Even the money that those departments collect is calculated as "part" of the hunters' conservation appeal. (A little like saying my speeding ticket is my way of paying for roads.) It is clever and I applaud them for doing what they do.

Again, I wonder, why does this have to be a fight?

The National Audubon Society has been around since 1886, when the prototype was started and had to be disbanded because so many people, 40,000, joined in to sign a pledge against harming any bird. It was restarted a couple of years later. Don't you think they've done something to generate enthusiasm for wildlife protection?

Sierra Club -- 1892 -- One of the more hated organizations by hunters and neo-conservatives... yet they've done plenty to save wilderness... the deep woods you mentioned.

Nature Conservancy -- not started until the early 50's, yet they claim they've protected nearly 117 million acres around the world... and they do it the old-fashioned way. They obtain control. Or they did... I think now they're taking notes on how the DU manipulates governments.

I have no other way to read this than to accept it as an accusation. You have to admit that its really a lame low blow. Im not thin skinned , but I dont deserve tacky swipes like that.

Hunters are folks, like anybody else. Many are committed to conservation and put more effort in than just about anybody. But there is a divide with them as with everybody else. I have known a number of hunters that shoot anything they see. Example: a good friend of mine's husband spouts about preservation, then goes out and shoots owls and anything else he comes across. So, one could argue for either position and be part right, part wrong.

Anyone interested in data for bird protection can find info at this site:

http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/index.html

Audubon, as the U.S. Partner for BirdLife International, is working to identify a network of sites that provide critical habitat for birds. This effort known as the Important Bird Areas Program (IBA) recognizes that habitat loss and fragmentation are the most serious threats facing populations of birds across America and around the world. By working through partnerships, principally the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, to identify those places that are critical to birds during some part of their life cycle (breeding, wintering, feeding, migrating) we hope to minimize the effects that habitat loss, and degradation have on bird populations. Unless we can slow the rapid destruction and degradation of habitat, populations of many birds may decline to dangerously low levels. The IBA program is a global effort to identify areas that are most important for maintaining bird populations, and it focuses conservation efforts at protecting these sites. In the U.S. the IBA program has become a key component of many bird conservation efforts, for example: Partners in Flight, North American Waterbird Conservation Plan, and the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan.

I'm sorry and I said I was sorry.

A lot of the destruction of habitat comes from humans who disperse in their efforts to get away from the cities. Odd to read the names of developments like "Deer Trace" or "Quail Run" where neither deer are likely to be seen nor quail find a safe place to run.

Under those circumstances it seems that the best to be done, since we can't change the human preference for living in the country, is to make sure we provide habitat within those Deer Trace and Quail Run backyards. In my county one of the ways is by requiring green belts that run between houses in the country. Both humans (who want the privacy that a tree or two provides) and wildlife (who need the food & cover) can coexist. We all make compromises... hopefully the animals will make the compromises necessary to live. Meanwhile those little songbirds that we love to hear must continue to make two or three hatchings a year in order to stay alive and provide food, as they do, for the bigger birds.

That person is not a hunter, he's a poacher, and he belongs in jail.

My point is, I have known people just like him for all my life.

I have to agree with cj, that person is not a hunter, hes a criminal.

Piffka, I guess we got infused with the moment. Ive had a roaring headache all day so maybe Im testier than usual.

Bobsmythawk-Are you aware of any areas where the "corridors" ideas have been incorporated into ordinances or county policies? I need to keep my planning commission informed

Hi Farmerman

Not in my neck of the woods. There are of course ordinances for wetlands protection which always seem to be circumvented when a developer is looking to build on that land. Makes you wonder if everyone is being totally honest in their pursuit of the almighty dollar. Naw! It must be my overactive imagination. They wouldn't do that. Would they?

Why the hell didn't you report them?

There are more of this type of hunter than people want to admit. I am merely pointing out the divide.

Thanks, I guess....

You are very welcome.

That is something I work every single day for - educating people about ethical hunting and our place in the food chain. I find your response disturbing. As would many.

Reading some stories in this country about the antics of American "hunters", some of the more lurid ones catch the eye. I believe quite a few of them shoot each other, and I read once (in the Readers' Digest I think, and a very long time ago) that in hunting season a farmer had to paint "COW" in large letters on the sides of his animals.

But I digress, not for the first time.

There is a big study going on here about the dramatic decline in numbers, and unsuccessful breeding of, large numbers of seabird species, particularly on the western seaboard, the Atlantic. Puffins, razorbills, guillemots, fulmars, gannets, terns, all native seabird species are affected, and the cause is thought to be starvation due to industrial fishing methods, particularly but not only for sandeels.

McTag that's pretty disturbing! I wonder if there are good studies on which fish species the various seabirds eat. Shouldn't be hard to do.