[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: NFC: : political debates....my turn to rant
robert a rice wrote:
>
> Kristine,
>
> Hello :)
>
> HAVEING BEN AROUND AND AROUND ON THESE "political" debates. Here is my
> take, some , no most people prefer to debate and point out others
> inadequcies (sp) while actually doing nothing.
>
> Wright Huntly does things. I don't always agree with him but I respect
> him. So I give him a long listen on political things.
Thanks for the kind words, Robert. I guess four 1700 mile trips a year and
about 16 days per annum devoted to habitat maintenance with the Desert
Springs Action Committee, gives me the right to rant a just little bit.
I agree with much of what Kristine says, and feel something should be
pointed out here. I have made some good friends in the USF&WL Service, as
well as the Nevada Wildlife Dept. over the past 6 or 7 years of doing this
"hands-on" volunteer conservation work.
They are, almost universally, dedicated and hard-working folks who are
trying really hard to do the right thing. I have encountered only (out of a
great many) one who acted like the badge and authority were more important
than the habitat and the fish. [She was new and insecure. Probably very
different, now.] For that, I'm most grateful. Since our part is almost pure
scut work, yanking bullrushes, killing exotics, etc., it's really nice to
have good expert folks to associate with on our work parties. They have been
particularly good teachers, and always willing to explain what's happening
to those of us seeing a given location perhaps only yearly.
I have never encountered any who were ignorant or uninformed about what they
were doing. Quite the contrary. I sincerely apologize if Kristine thought I
was slamming her, or her associates, with my disgust at the political
arrangements and deliberately misinforming press that we have to deal with.
Her advice to read the Federalist Papers was particularly to the point. I
wish folks actually would do it! You might hear a lot less of the propaganda
about whether this is a republic or a democracy, and a lot more about the
*limits* on government that were our founders' big contribution to creating
a new kind of social order -- the most effective and productive ever dreamed
of.
As we forget that, and continue to lose more of our freedoms, we can expect
the country to drift toward the environmental "paradise" that characterized
Romania and the USSR under essentially unlimited government. [You can't
protect a butterfly species while starving.] I, for one, don't want that,
and am prepared to shout "Bulls**t" rather loudly when I see it being
advocated.
[I so love the Federalist Papers that I conducted a 45-year-long survey on
the subject. I asked every single "public" (i.e., government) school teacher
I met about them and if they had read them. I'm certain some must have, but
after 45 years of not meeting a single one, I gave up asking. I think I
understand pretty well why the average citizen fails to understand what is
important in our system, and is confused about how it works.]
>
> Boo Radley is of course an alias as it is a Chactor from "To Kill A
> Mockingbird" So I dont know him/her from adam. I find that aspect of
> harshly commenting from an alias a real irritation.
(^_^)
Boo's points are all most of the public ever hears or understands, so don't
be too harsh on him.
>
> Bottom line is there are those who fight the good fight and those that
> comment on the fight...some constantly and harshly. Those who fight
> should choose the direction the movement takes. Those who don't shouldn't
>
Slight disagreement, there Robert. We must listen to all and have the wisdom
to select that which truly works, whether it's the worker bee's way or the
butterfly's. I think my labors do give me a right to sound off, but will
deny to the death that that is any guarantee I'm right. Reasoned discourse,
and study (understanding) of history will do that best, IMHO.
What the last 20 or so trips to the desert have done for me, is put me in
contact with more than one side of the issues, and have increased my
confidence that the locals are not the villains that the Green Bigot Brigade
(and fascists like Diane Feinstein) would love to paint them as being.
The late Bob Love, a local rancher, did more to save Ash Meadows than the
entire USF&WL and Death Valley Natl. Monument combined, when he got Nature
Conservancy on the job, at a crucial time, and helped work out big land
swaps that saved the springs. Of course that doesn't make very good copy for
the LA Times.
View a few snapshots of a trip last summer to Preston NV at:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=972804&a=7152836&f=0
Lew Crips, a lifetime local rancher, devoted a whole day and threw his home
open to our motley crew. He detailed the water history of the area and
guided us to the local springs, with great tales about each. He cares about
the springfish and dace, and thanked us for what we are doing.
Locals rigged the copper sulfate dispenser you see in Preston (Big) Spring
to limit algae that clogged the irrigation equipment. It was an answer to
the earlier problem that just dumping in dry CuSO4 apparently killed the
native fish. No EPA, no cops. I think they just preferred to respect their
home environment and worked out a way to do it right.
By pre-dissolving it, and allowing a slow controlled drip from the barrel,
they got their algae reduced at much less than lethal levels for the fish.
It's more trouble and effort, but it works for those "greedy" landowners.
Probably dramatically reduces the copper in their alfalfa, at the same time.
:-)
It's a pity we are so often given only one side of these stories.
Wright
--
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679 huntley1 at home_com
"Strike any key to continue..."
How? My stupid keyboard doesn't even have an "any" key!
Follow-Ups:
References: