Subject: Re: MTBers Trashing One of the Last Virgin Forests in Iowa!
From: Mike Edgar
Date: Sun, 29 Sep 1996 00:39:44 +0100
In article , Mark
Woodhead writes
>In article , Mike Edgar
> wrote:
>
>> In article <32470D96.47D4@discover.net>, Chernobyl Cowboyz
>> writes
>> >> And guess what, I suspect that Mike travels all the way to
>> >> work in his comfortable POLLUTING car. Oh, I forgot, pleople
>> >> like him don't have jobs, they are just a burden on the
>> >> welfare-system.
>> >
>> >No, not a burden. He just sees that he doesn't want to add any
>> >ecological burden by working in the industry.
>>
>> I doubt that Mike V would be a burden on any welfare system from choice,
>> but your "attitude" suggests that you certainly are a burden (far above
>> that which any living creature is by it's mere existence of course) on
>> any ecosystem.
>>
>
>Mike,
> How can you possibly make a statement like the one above and continue to
>sign your postings as you do below? Nice?!? Does the term hypocracy mean
>anything to you?
>
>Mark
>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Mike Edgar
>> It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice.
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
(A copy of this message has also been posted to the following newsgroups:
>rec.animals.wildlife,
>rec.backcountry,rec.bicycles.off-road,rec.bicycles.soc,sci.environment)
>
>In article , Mike Edgar
> wrote:
>
>> In article <32470D96.47D4@discover.net>, Chernobyl Cowboyz
>> writes
>> >> And guess what, I suspect that Mike travels all the way to
>> >> work in his comfortable POLLUTING car. Oh, I forgot, pleople
>> >> like him don't have jobs, they are just a burden on the
>> >> welfare-system.
>> >
>> >No, not a burden. He just sees that he doesn't want to add any
>> >ecological burden by working in the industry.
>>
>> I doubt that Mike V would be a burden on any welfare system from choice,
>> but your "attitude" suggests that you certainly are a burden (far above
>> that which any living creature is by it's mere existence of course) on
>> any ecosystem.
>>
>
>Mike,
> How can you possibly make a statement like the one above and continue to
>sign your postings as you do below? Nice?!? Does the term hypocracy mean
>anything to you?
>
>Mark
>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Mike Edgar
>> It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice.
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
Never heard of it Mark,.... but the term hypocrIsy does. My assessment
is based upon a) Your apparent instinctive trashing of any attempt by
Mike V, or anyone else who dares to suggest that we humans have NO RIGHT
to destroy wildlife and habitat in the pursuit of selfish pastimes, and
b) your unwarranted personal, detrimental remarks about him.
I only "know" about him via this ng,..... do you know him personally.. ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Edgar
It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Parks Do Not Protect Wildlife
From: Mike Vandeman
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 15:56:13 -0700
September 28, 1996
Department of Parks and Recreation
Attn: Planning Section
P.O. Box 942896
Sacramento, CA 94296-0001
Re: The Purchase of Diablo Ranch
Gentlepersons:
Yes, please purchase this ranch! But don't simply add it to
Mount Diablo State Park. We humans already have much more than our
____
share of the land of California. I don't have an exact figure, but
I suspect that only a few percent of the area of California is
still functional as wildlife habitat for our native species. Recent
research has shown that recreation, even activities which we have
always thought to be innocuous (e.g. a simple walk in the woods!),
can be harmful and even deadly to wildlife (see Wildlife and
____________
Recreationists, cited below). But common sense also suffices: don't
______________
we insist on not being molested in our homes? Why do animals
__
usually run away when we approach? Why are lands near cities,
farms, and developed parks depauperate in terms of species?
Obviously, the presence of humans is incompatible with the
____________
preservation of all of our biodiversity.
(In case some still harbor the belief that at least
"primitive" humans knew how to coexist sustainable with other
species, note the comments of Stephen J. Gould (Bully for
_________
Brontosaurus, p.110): "We must cast aside the myths of noble non-
____________
Westerners living in ecological harmony with their potential
quarries. The ancestors of New Zealand's Maori people based a
culture on hunting moas, but soon made short work of them, both by
direct removal and by burning of habitat to clear areas for
agriculture." See also
The End of Evolution, by Peter Ward -- cited below. He argues
____________________
convincingly that humans were responsible for the demise of most of
the large mammals of North America.)
We believe that we own every square inch of the Earth, and
have the right to do what we want to it. This is precisely why we
are losing, worldwide, dozens of species per day. It is also
absurd! How does this relate to our parks? Parks are, potentially,
___________
one of the most important areas for the preservation of wildlife
habitat. We rejoice whenever we acquire more land and convert it to
a park. But if we examine this conversion from the point of view of
wildlife, it may not be so rosy. Land that is in private hands may
___
be heavily used, but often it isn't. On the other hand, land that
is designated a "park" is usually 100 percent accessible to the
public, and thus of potentially zero utility as habitat.
____
A park is nothing, without wildlife (wildlife = all nonhuman,
_______
non-domesticated species, plants as well as animals). Without
wildlife, a park is nothing but a pile of rocks, which can't hold
our attention for more than a few minutes. By far the most
______
interesting part of any park is its wildlife, followed by
prehistoric wildlife, prehistoric humans, early humans, native
cultures and peoples, and early remnants of our own culture.
And this is the order in which priority should be given. This
is partly due to the relative importance of these various elements
in a park (i.e., what makes a park a park, as opposed to a city),
____
but it can also be justified on the basis of what is most
vulverable: plants can't protect themselves from animals, animals
from native peoples, native cultures from the dominant culture,
etc. In other words, if we are going to continue to have parks that
are enjoyable to visit, and that offer a respite from the pressures
and relative sterility of the city, we are going to have to give
much more priority to wildlife.
____
In recent years, the trend in our parks has, unfortunately,
been in the opposite direction. Park managers have given in to
pressure from various interest groups, so that lately, wildlife are
given only token attention. For example, the last time I visited
the Grand Canyon, three of the four ranger talks I heard were about
recent American visitors to the Canyon. The one talk about wildlife
was about all the fish that have gone extinct or are going extinct,
due to Glen Canyon Dam and our mismanagement of the river.
Wildlife need a place to live, just as we do. That means a
place where they are not molested (from their point of view, of
_____
course, not ours!). But humans think we own every square inch of
the Earth. We think we have a right to go anywhere we want. In 2
million years of human evolution, there has never been one square
inch of the Earth that is off-limits to humans (from which we
voluntarily exclude ourselves)! There have always been some places
that were difficult to reach, and hence were de-facto off-limits to
________
humans, but as technology has progressed, there are fewer and fewer
of these areas. Various kinds of cars and trucks, motorcycles,
boats, mountain bikes, sophisticated camping and climbing gear,
helicopter rescues, water stashes, and even freeze-dried foods have
all contributed to eliminating the last safe refuges of wildlife.
There are two issues that relate to the impact of management
on wildlife: spacial and temporal. In spacial terms, almost all
park lands are accessible to all humans during all daylight hours.
No special skills are required. This practically eliminates parks
as wildlife habitat. Even if there still are places where wildlife
have access, any of them can potentially be reached by people, once
___________
the habitat is designated as a "park".
In temporal terms, nighttime has historically been available
for wildlife to travel and feed unmolested by humans. Camping
eliminates that "loophole"! People can potentially camp or explore
(with the proper equipment, all of which is available) at night
now, anywhere they want to.
Written regulations are only partly effective in curbing human
abuses (e.g. witness the "Sedona 5" brazenly mountain biking down
the North Kaibab Trail all the way to the Colorado!). The only
sensible, humane way to restrict human access to wildlife habitat
within a park is to close roads (eliminating easy motor vehicle
access). "Demotorizing" and "depaving" the park will go a long way
toward reducing human impacts to a sustainable level. However,
there still needs to be a prohibition against motor vehicles,
boats, horses, mules, and other such travel aids in the park.
Bicycles (and, of course, wheelchairs), since they are quiet and
nonpolluting, could be allowed in the park but never off-road!
_____
(Replacing motor vehicles with bikes is an obvious improvement, but
allowing bikes on trails and in habitat areas is an equally obvious
step backwards!)
Is this "fair"? Yes, because the same rules apply to everyone.
There is no reason that humans should have access to every square
inch of the Earth! In fact, there are very good reasons why we
shouldn't. It would not significantly reduce enjoyment of the park
if people had access only to a few locations, rather than
everywhere.
__________
I would prefer that you designate this new "parkland" as a
"wildlife preserve", provide no access to it whatsoever (including
__
biologists, who are hard for wildlife to distinguish from other
humans), and even experiment with making it the first (?) area in
the world that is truly off-limits to humans. The wildlife will
thank you!
Sincerely,
Michael J. Vandeman, Ph.D.
P.S. For more information and explanation, see my web page, listed
below.
P.P.S. Please share my comments as widely as possible.
References:
Ehrlich, Paul R. and Ehrlich, Anne H., Extinction: The Causes and
__________________________
Consequences of the Disappearances of Species. New York: Random
_____________________________________________
House, 1981.
Engwicht, David, Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns: Better Living
______________________________________________
with Less Traffic. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1993
_________________
(first published as Towards an Eco-City: Calming the Traffic, in
________________________________________
1992).
Foreman, Dave, Confessions of an Eco-Warrior. New York: Harmony
_____________________________
Books, 1991.
Grumbine, R. Edward, Ghost Bears. Washington, DC: Island Press,
___________
1992.
Knight, Richard L. and Kevin J. Gutzwiller, eds. Wildlife and
____________
Recreationists. Covelo, California: Island Press, c.1995.
______________
Life on the Edge. A Guide to California's Endangered Natural
____________________________________________________________
Resources: Wildlife. Santa Cruz, California: BioSystem Books, 1994.
___________________
Little, Charles E., The Dying of the Trees -- The Pandemic in
_________________________________________
America's Forests. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., c.1995.
_________________
Myers, Norman, ed., Gaia: An Atlas of Planet Management, Garden
___________________________________
City, NY: Anchor Books, 1984.
Noss, Reed F., "The Ecological Effects of Roads", in "Killing
Roads", Earth First!
Noss, Reed F. and Allen Y. Cooperrider, Saving Nature's Legacy:
_______________________
Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity. Island Press, Covelo,
_____________________________________
California, 1994.
Sachs, Aaron, "Eco-Justice: Linking Human Rights and the
Environment". Worldwatch Institute, December, 1995.
Stone, Christopoher D., Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal
________________________________________
Rights for Natural Objects. Los Altos, California: William
__________________________
Kaufmann, Inc., 1973.
Vandeman, Michael J.,
http://www.imaja.com/change/environment/mvarticles/
Ward, Peter Douglas, The End of Evolution: On Mass Extinctions and
_____________________________________________
the Preservation of Biodiversity. New York: Bantam Books, 1994.
________________________________
Whitman, Walt, Leaves of Grass. New York: The New American Library,
_______________
1958.
"The Wildlands Project", Wild Earth. Richmond, Vermont: The
__________
Cenozoic Society, 1994.
Wilson, Edward O., The Diversity of Life. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
_____________________
Harvard University Press, 1992.
---
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8 years
fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
http://www.imaja.com/change/environment/mvarticles