Dave,
Not sure if you mean OBOL has literally been "on the wane" or if you are
speaking somehow figuratively, perhaps as in the number of posts you find to be
of interest; but at 1279 members, OBOL has more people on it now than ever
before in its history.
Treesa
On Mar 5, 2016, at 9:32 AM, David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Greetings All,
Good morning America and BOO where the 1st Amendment is alive and well.
I will offer some defense of Rich Adney. When I read his post, I did not take
it as him telling me or anyone else to shut up and get back to talking about
birds. I took it as him lamenting the loss, or perhaps fading relevance of
something (OBOL and the other birds-only listservs) that has been part of his
life for many years. Note that his post was sent not only to BOO, but to OBOL,
the Mid-Valley list and one other listserv as I recall. I think he is looking
for a revival of what once was, not the suppression of what is happening on
BOO. I did not get the impression that he thinks BOO postings should now turn
to only bird sightings. I sent Rich a private note with my thoughts about what
is happening with OBOL and other "bird sightings only" listservs, some of which
is in the paragraph below.
I contend that OBOL has been on the wane for at least a couple of years now. I
used to depend on OBOL for my bird news and the occasional lively discussion of
other bird-related issues. Some of the discussions would go off the rails and
the moderator would have to drop the hammer, but as a general rule even the
disagreements were civil, certainly more civil than a 2016 Republican
presidential debate. For at least two years prior to the Malheur occupation, I
had noticed a decline in the number of OBOL posts that grabbed my attention. On
several occasions I had asked myself and Shawneen, why do I still subscribe?
Well, the decision to keep discussion of the Malheur occupation off of OBOL
pushed me off the fence. As I anticipated, I have not much missed OBOL since I
unsubscribed back in mid-January. To be frank, I have been surprised by how
infrequently "I wonder what's happening on OBOL?" thoughts pop into my head. I
do pull up Sialia now and again to glean sightings for North American Birds,
otherwise I wouldn't even bother to do that.
Before the Malheur occupation, I was toddling along with my head up my ass,
taking for granted all the things that we take for granted. As Jeff Hayes
suggests, those days are in the rear-view mirror. Thanks to BOO, Facebook
discussions, and my own quest to become a hell of lot better informed than I
was on 2 January 2016, I now know about the American Lands Council, who funds
it, and how they envision using my public lands. I now know about the American
Legislative Exchange Council and who in the Oregon Legislature is involved.
I've looked at the federal budget for the National Wildlife Refuge system and
the economic benefits it drives. OBOL could have been the vehicle that helped
the birding community become better informed on these issues, but the OBA Board
decided to go another direction. Instead we were provided with this
much-appreciated forum.
The statistics Treesa shared suggest that while BOO is not nearly as large a
community, it is (at least currently) perhaps a more engaged community than
OBOL. During January and February, OBOL averaged about 0.5 posts per
subscriber, while BOO was generating more than 2.0 posts per subscriber over
the same period. Of course there are large numbers of lurkers in both
communities and most of the posts are generated by a smaller group of the most
vocal participants. That is the case with any online community. That said, the
level of engagement and the quality of information being shared in BOO suggests
it is here to stay. It is the only birding listserv that I currently subscribe
to.
Too all of those BOO subscribers who may be content to just lurk, your voices
and opinions are important, especially if you disagree with the prevailing
opinions being expressed on some of these issues. There's not much to be gained
by preaching to the choir. Rich Adney's world view is quite different than mine
and we both know and accept it. I've met Rich, exchanged some emails with him
over the years and found him to be nice guy. He is a birder, a voter, and an
Oregonian (life-long I think). I don't want Rich to find another "coffee shop."
I want to know what he's thinking and have him hear what I'm thinking. Neither
of us is going to convert the other (we are old dogs), but we won't find the
common ground–and it's out there–unless we are talking to one another.
I think the ongoing discussion of Greater Sage-Grouse management in Oregon is a
great example of what this forum should look like. Where else can you go and
get thoughtful commentary from both sides of this debate. You may not agree
with the ODFW hunting regulations and the logic behind them, but having Dave
Budeau's insights into the ODFW decision to maintain a limited harvest was
informative. I know more about upland game bird management strategies than I
did yesterday. That is a good thing.
In a bit ofshameless self-promotion, I did launch a new blog yesterday. The
first post looks at the economic value of our National Wildlife Refuges. I hope
to delve into all of the things birders are interested in, even birds.
http://www.watercoolerbirder.com/home/what-does-1-58-buy-a-dollars-and-sense-look-at-national-wildlife-refuges
Dave Irons
Portland, OR
