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

Ralph,

I'd like to include your letter to Irene in the next Thrasher - under
your name and without Irene's name.  We can edit out  " I would be
interested in  your comments ... and those of others in the biriding
community" or not depending on what you wish.  I don't know what kind of
response to expect but your question was thoughtfully presented and would
be a great article and wonderful "food for thoutht".

Please let me know your thoughts!!

The maples have done their thing and now there's no stopping spring - we
might stall a bit and have a wet March or April snow - but the sun is
coming back and will not be denied!!

Love it.

Caroline

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 15:22:56 EST JRiverPk@xxxxxxx writes:
> Irene,
>        I tried to send you a long e-mail, but got cut off by a 
> cranky 
> machine.  I am interested in your thoughts about what we as 
> environmentalists should 
> do, if anything, about the increase in plant and wildlife 
> populations that 
> result from our cleaning up the environment.  As a park manager I 
> must deal with 
> this issue.  
> 
>        There is amoral and ethical quandry.  Our predecessors made 
> things 
> dirty. We passed laws that stopped the bad stuff ... and now we are 
> cleaning up.  
> As a result, wild plants and creatures are coming back, but the 
> environmental 
> mix, the balance, isn;t there any more.  
> 
>        Are we responsible for helping re-create a rich and varried 
> (sustainable) enviornment .... or are we no longer obligated to do 
> anything once we stop 
> doing bad things.  For example, do we keep our hands off the English 
> Ivy that 
> is killing off our large urban trees and making space for 
> fast-growing 
> invasives like Ailanthus trees?   And if is is OK to manage invasive 
> wildfowers like 
> Purple Loosestrife and Garlic Mustard by pulling them up, poisoning, 
> mowing 
> and / or re-seeding, is it ever OK to kill or remove wild animals? 
> 
>          For instance, what should we do with the increasing 
> population of 
> whitetailed deer that are munching their way through suburban shrubs 
> and 
> vegetable gardens and inadvertqantly causing horrific automobile 
> accidents that 
> result in human death and crippling injuries.  should they ever be 
> "culled"? (Of 
> course, that means killed.)  Are there acceptable and  unacceptable 
> ways of 
> doing this? Similarly, the raccoon population has exploded and with 
> it a rise in 
> the incidence of rabies and distemper.  The first of these is a 
> truly horrific 
> disease for humans to catch.  Should these be culled?  Or should we 
> imposed 
> laws on people's behavior and require the purchase of raccoon-proof 
> trash 
> containers for all homes, businesses and city parks (that means 
> higher taxes for the 
> latter effort).
> 
>        If it is OK to manage the population of certain plants and 
> animals 
> that have a negative impact on the quality and safety of our lives, 
> is it ever OK 
> to manage the population of creatures that we feel will have a 
> positive 
> impact?  How about Eagles, or shad and herring?  We, obviously, are 
> spending public 
> monies on all these.
> 
>        If you are trying to restore depleted populations of shad 
> here (or 
> salmon up north,) is it ever appropriate to control their predators? 
> If not, why? 
>  If so, how?
> 
>        Many mangers of natural areas are facing these kinds of 
> questions; 
> most of us consider ourselves to be environmentalists.  I would be 
> interested in 
> your comments ... and those of others in the biriding community.
> 
>                 Ralph White
>                 James River Park 
> 
> 
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