Walter Knapp wrote:
"It might not have happened this way if the environmentalists had
not been so eager to ruin folks who owned wetlands. The
wetlands paid a heavy price for the arrogance of environmental
activists."
Thanks for the wake-up call, Walt: I didn't realize
environmentalists, like me, are to blame for the devestation of
wetlands. I've been told that denial is not a river in Egypt, but all
this time I've gone on believing denial was a park in Alaska. I
suppose I'll go now and cut up my environmentalist membership
card, and hang up my nature sound recording gear. Who cares
about the natural environment (if not for short term profit)
anyway?
John Hartog
> From: Klas Strandberg <>
>
> >
> > Todays headlines in Sweden are "Frogs Towards Extinction"
and is based on a
> > report by
> > Global Amphibian Assessment, saying that 1/3 of all frogs -
all over the
> > globe - is dying without an explanation.
> > Comments Walt - others?
>
> What it turns out is there are a whole galaxy of explanations.
The world
> wants one explanation, it does not work that way. There has
been
> considerable work and most causes are now known.
>
> Yes, in some cases those who are pushing this attitude are
right, some
> of the causes are humanity and it's effects. Primarily our ever
> increasing population crowding them out. But in other cases
it's
> natural, like the fungus infections in the midwest. Probably
carried by
> the prevailing winds from asia.
>
> And, of course, as the rain forests go so do the frogs that are
> specialized in them. Or in the US the courts ruled that the
wetlands
> protection only applied to wetlands that had a recognized
stream flowing
> through them. There was a huge push to fill wetlands before
the law was
> fixed (it's still not fixed). We lost a large percentage of our
wetlands
> in just the last few years with that one decision. It might not
have
> happened this way if the environmentalists had not been so
eager to ruin
> folks who owned wetlands. The wetlands paid a heavy price for
the
> arrogance of environmental activists.
>
> Here in Georgia, except for a few species with specialized
habitat
> requirements frogs are doing just fine thank you. In fact, on
paper they
> have expanded their range considerably, thanks to efforts by
myself and
> others to actually map their range. Not that there are not
setbacks here
> and there.
>
> If anything there is far too much misinformed propaganda. We
have to
> take off the hair shirts and quit the floggings and start doing
some
> real thinking and planning. It's time to end the blame game
and get into
> the fix game. I don't see that from the environmental activists,
real
> solutions that make sense and can be sold to the rest of the
public. Why
> I almost hate to admit I'm a trained ecologist.
>
> Incidentally, many herp surveys are done by folks that work only
9-5.
> Not a good way to find out about frogs. And those surveys are
what the
> headlines are based on.
>
> Walt
>
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