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NFC: Re: NANFA-- dam decommissioning
On Tue, 12 Jan 1999, Chris Scharpf wrote:
> Fellow NANFA members and native fish enthusiasts,
>
> Please read the following and share your thoughts on the subject of
> dam decommissioning.
Is it a good idea?
A. In some circumstances, yes. But not in all cases or places.
Are all dams bad?
A. H--L NO! some provide VERY necessary benefits. Besides, a million
beavers can't be wrong.
And should they all come down?
A. Absolutely NOT! Forgetting the benefits some dams provide...who will
pay for all of it? The 'government', hah, WE are the government and
'their' money is our money...just more poorly used.
How would you feel about NANFA endorsing the Declaration cited below?
A. Honestly, I would probably resign from the organization...that
depending on how much actual research NANFA did into the problem on it's
own. I may be wrong, but I didn't see any scientific organizations
backing that plan (again, I may have just missed them in the endorsement
lists). I have little patience for 'knee-jerk' reactionism and
emotionalism taking over where common sense is called for. Tear them all
down?...I don't THINK so.
It's all well and good to talk about this...but where does it end? Most
farm ponds can qualigy as 'dams' in someone's book. Do the millions of
farm ponds and private lakes have to be destroyed too? What about low
water bridges? What about the potential thousands of human lives lost due
to flash flooding that will come from it all? No, some dams are a good
thing and we shouldn't begin to even consider throwing out the 'bably with
the bath water'. Instead of one blanket endorsement, each dam needs to be
studied case by case. But, that's my opinion.
Luke McClurg