FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Re: Why kill Double-crested Cormorants???

[JRiverPk@xxxxxxx]

John
       That would be great if you wanted to put the Cormorant Control 
Controversy in the Thrasher.  Feel free to edit it as you see fit, but I have 
no 
objection to leaving in the comments about the "birding community" and the 
desire 
for feed back.  I really do want to get a feeling for what our club wants out 
of its natural environment  ... and how it wants it managed.  
       As yuou know, the organization that set up the Earth Day activites 
over the last few years in Richmond (G.R.E.A.T.) has folded  I attribute this, 
in 
large part, to its take over by leadership with very strongly held views 
about what constitutes appropreate use of the environment.  (At one point, I 
was 
banned from participation because I wanted to have a stuffed otter on display 
at the park booth.)  It was sort of a vegetarian, yoga, animal rights 
gathering.  This took it quite a ways away from an inclusive gathering of all 
those who 
use the earth/water/air in a sustainable, non-polluting fashion---including 
people like free-range beef and chicken farmers, Christmas tree growers, 
faquaculturists,  fishermen, and the like.
       I mention this because I was surprised to see the chattter amongst the 
bird-watchers about managing bird populatons.  Auduboners are people who 
observe nature and, in that, see the episodes of birth and death that define 
boundaries of nature.   Everything else that one observes is something leading 
up 
to either of those.The cartoon concept of animals as all cute and cuddly, 
defiled by human contact,  and, thru that, sacrosanct, is troublesome to me.   
How 
can we restore the populations of plants and animals that make our lives so ric
h, if we don't also take responsibilty for what the newly restored 
populations of living things do? As a land manager and educator, I need to know 
where my 
friends and neighbors are coming from.     Ralph

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