Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Extinct 1940's
Found 2004
Posted on 04/20/2006 3:36:35 PM PDT by freedomdefender
This year’s "Top Five" list highlights the myth that heavy regulation promotes environmental health. “In their zeal to promote their eco-political agenda, many environmentalists ignore evidence that overbearing regulation is counter-productive,” said Pacific Legal Foundation Vice President Dave Stirling. “A balanced approach—one that takes into account the human factor, the effect on jobs, the economy, and people’s ability to provide shelter and support for their families—is actually the most promising and humane way to protect the environment.”
LIE NO. 1: THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT HELPS ENDANGERED SPECIES
Truth: The ESA puts species in danger and undermines constitutional property rights.
For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has been used as a weapon by radical, litigious environmentalists to lock up vast areas of private property in the name of “species protection”—often without scientific justification, and without compensation for people who can face financial ruin when they are prohibited from making productive use of their land.
The best way to protect imperiled plants and animals is not to deny private property owners the reasonable use of their land. That policy only encourages landowners to keep quiet when they spot a threatened animal or bird, and to regard the species as their enemy.
For these reasons, the ESA doesn’t work. Approximately 1,300 domestic species have been listed as endangered or threatened over the ESA’s 30 years of existence. Only 33 have been taken off the list—and 15 were removed not because they were “recovered,” but because the original listings were based on faulty science.
LIE NO. 2: SALMON FISHING MUST BE HALTED ALONG THE WEST COAST TO PROTECT “ENDANGERED” CHINOOK SALMON
Truth: Halting fishing would be an economically devastating “solution” in search of a non-existent “problem.” Salmon are not “endangered.”
Federal officials are considering cancelling this year’s ocean salmon fishing season, from California’s Bay Area northward to Oregon and Washington, because of what regulators claim is the low salmon count on the Klamath River. But the feds are artificially underestimating salmon populations by not counting vast populations of hatchery-spawned salmon. This undercount violates a 2001 federal district court ruling that pointed out that hatchery salmon are genetically indistinguishable from stream-bred salmon.
Halting salmon fishing will deal a crippling blow to local marinas and economies by closing down a $150 million a year industry.
LIE NO. 3: THE FEDS MUST MICROMANAGE PRIVATE PROPERTY TO PROTECT CLEAN WATER
Truth: State governments adequately protect clean water; federal intrusion is unconstitutional.
Traditionally, land use zoning has been the job of local governments, in keeping with the Constitution’s limits on the national government. But federal regulators are trying to make themselves into a National Zoning Board, with power over land use decisions nationwide, by misusing the Clean Water Act. The Act gives the federal government oversight only over property that abuts “navigable waters.” But the feds have now defined that term to mean almost any water, anywhere. As Investors Business Daily puts it, “If collected rainwater drains into a gully, thence into a ditch, thence into a river, it’s now deemed under government control.”
The feds’ power grab is being challenged by PLF in a case currently before the United States Supreme Court. Rapanos v. United States, which will probably be decided by June, contests the feds’ attempt to regulate a Michigan man’s land because it has wetlands on it—even though the property is 20 miles away from the nearest navigable water.
LIE NO. 4: DRILLING IN ANWR WOULD HARM A FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT
Truth: Past energy development in Alaska belies doomsday warnings.
Even though sky rocketing oil prices are driving gasoline pump prices to new highs, extremists in the environmental community continue to oppose the Bush Administration’s plan for oil and natural gas drilling on a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Yet the proposal is extremely limited—it would allow drilling in a small area of the northernmost region of the 19.6-million-acre federal reserve; the proposed drilling area is about the size of Dulles airport. Drilling engineers believe recent technological advances would require the use of as few as 2,000 surface acres—just one acre for every 10,000 acres in the refuge area.
Doomsday claims that the project would threaten the porcupine caribou, arctic wolf, and the polar bear are belied by experience. The porcupine caribou herd occupying the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska’s North Slope has increased tenfold—from 3,000 to 32,000 animals—since oil production began there in 1977. In fact, there are no scientific studies demonstrating that any Arctic species has been reduced in number as a result of North Slope oil production activity.
LIE NO. 5: THE BEST FOREST STEWARDSHIP IS TO LET FORESTS BURN
Truth: Removing dead wood prevents out-of-control fires, and spares species from incineration.
There’s a species of self-described environmentalists who act as if they never met a forest fire they didn’t like. For example, following a devastating 2001 fire in the Lake Tahoe area, some enviro-extremists cited the continued “presence of owls” as a reason to oppose a plan to clear dead wood through logging.
But how does it help owls or other species if the forest is allowed to remain a tinderbox? Burned trees serve as wildfire fuel; and wildfires kill owls, scorch their habitat, and incinerate the small rodents that owls love to eat. On the other hand, quick removal of dead trees and reforestation of the area increases the species’ chances of long-term survival.
Clearing dead wood, reforestation, and active forest management are central to sound forest stewardship. Taxpayers and nature lovers should be tired of seeing the nation’s natural resources endangered because myopic environmentalists oppose tree cutting even at the price of letting forests burn.
Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Extinct 1940's
Found 2004
I cleared out a lot of dead wood from my woods...the owls
love it...they have a clearer shot at prey...(mice and rabbits
gophers etc) and can now fly through it more easily when crows try to swarm them..
Do does this guy: 
So does...
I remember a certain Earth Day celebration last week at my university. There was a giant stage erected for performance artists to get up and perform skits or whatever about the environment. As I was passing by it on my bike, I saw an acquaintance of mine named Sean performing a poem (I think) on stage. Now, Sean is the perfect epitome of a hippie. He loves wearing tie dye clothes and sandals, has the constant stench of sweat and reefer on him, the only thing he's missing is really long hair. Well, he was performing, and was basically just shrieking and yelling incoherently in a shrill, obnoxious voice. At one point as I was passing, I heard him scream, "AMERICA, EXILE ME!" I thought to myself, 'Oh, if only we could!' I didn't stick around because I had better things to do, but I heard later that Sean's performance got worse as time went on. He made frequent references to pot, cocaine, and acid without the school's administrators doing anything to stop him (This, at an event with young children present). However, as soon as he said the "F" word on stage, a woman politely came up on stage, took the microphone from him and said, "Thank you, Sean, who's next?" This apparently sent Sean completely over the edge, as he started running around screaming and cursing at the top of his lungs.
Of course, we need to protect our environment, it should be among our top priorities, but people like Sean are simply nuts.
we need to protect our personal rights before protecting the environment...
"we need to protect our personal rights before protecting the environment..."
I know. That's why I said protecting the environment should be AMONG our top priorities, rather than suggesting it be our #1 priority.
I must take issue with number 5. Certainly "Clearing dead wood, reforestation, and active forest management are central to sound forest stewardship". However, the line before this is misleading (a call for "quick removal of dead trees"??? What forest does he live near?) and there are a significant number of situations where a burn is needed and should be let go.
I must take issue with number 5. Certainly "Clearing dead wood, reforestation, and active forest management are central to sound forest stewardship". However, the line before this is misleading (a call for "quick removal of dead trees"??? What forest does he live near?) and there are a significant number of situations where a burn is needed and should be let go.
The issue may be that a lot of trees were burned and killed but not destroyed for lumber purposes - IF - they could be harvested right away before mold and rot set in.
The environazis saw this coming and stood in the way by tying any reclamation logging up in the plodding court system until the burned-over trees were completely worthless.
It's high time America realized that these so-called "environmentalist" organization are nothing but subversives who won't be satisfied until they bring our country down.
Of course he does.
The biggest earth day coincidence is...Lenin's birthday. When you start with a lie that big, everything else is trivial
People like Sean and Randi Rhoades are guilty of air pollution.
That's what I notice too.
James Carville?
Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson dons work clothes and climbs aboard a tournapull,
then proceeds to clear an area in front of the Washington Monument for attendees
to congregate in, the better to hear him speak at the first Earthday; April 22, 1970.
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