Response to Tatoosh

[Ensor, Doug & Patti]

Dear Mr. Hans Schnauber:

I wish to respond to your recent Leps-L and Dplex postings which were
identical. Your posting is indicated by >. My response is in the succeeding
paragraph(s).

>CYBER VOTE - SPREAD THE WORD Confidentiality Guaranteed!

What is the purpose of this vote? Who will the results be given to? Why do
you want a vote? Who are you trying to convince - your sponsor? governmental
agencies? the media?

>Your response is vital to the July 4th - National Butterfly Release,
which already has been given the go-ahead on the federal and state
level.

Who, specifically, have you received permission from at the federal and
state levels? And which states - I assume you are referring to the state
that the butterflies are being released in (OR) and also the states that the
butterflies may migrate to, such as WA, ID, and others?

>However, some deceptive individuals, using their so-called credentials
have started propagating false information to individuals that are not
knowledgeable in the balance of nature.  Due to the facts prevailing,
these lowlifes have resorted in spreading false information to further
their cause.

Please be specific and truthful rather than using innuendos and
propaganda-type of writing:  "deceptive individuals", "so-called
credentials", "propagating false information", "individuals that are not
knowledgeable in the balance of nature", "lowlifes....spreading false
information". 

What are these "so-called credentials"? Are they folks who have studied
monarchs for years? 

What "false information" are these "deceptive individuals" "propagating"? Is
it information that disagrees with your project's goal or is it truly
inaccurate? 

The more I learn, the more I find out that there is more to learn,
especially about butterflies. What is true about a species in one part of
the country may not be 100% accurate in another part. And even noted
authorities don't always agree. That doesn't make anyone with "so-called
credentials" a "deceptive individual" or the information that have "false". 

If the "individuals that are not knowledgeable in the balance of nature"
includes those folks that realize 1)there isn't enough milkweed in the
greater Portland area  for several thousand females to lay eggs on, or 2)
there are several hundred thousand vehicles in the greater
Portland-Vancouver area that will kill many of the monarchs released
(remember the Painted Lady migration in 1992), or 3)the emmigration of
monarchs from Portland up the Columbia Gorge might impact the spread of
Neogregarine protozoa -- if these are the individuals you are describing,
then I must disagree with your description of them. I offer a different
description,"individuals that are CONCERNED about the balance of nature".

>If you believe releasing butterflies (permitted of course) is beneficial
to bringing public awareness to the decline of the butterflies, then
YOUR YES VOTE IS NEEDED!  

There are pros and cons to releasing butterflies. I was happy to learn that
those you plan to release will have originated in OR and will all be tagged
prior to release. Can you really obtain 10,000 monarchs from OR sources?
Will your suppliers certify that none of these butterflies will have been
imported (or their ancestors imported) from other states?

Will the monarchs that you release be certified free of Neogregarine
protozoa? Does anyone know if this protozoa can survive at northern
latitudes? I would hope that you would be concerned about the potential for
increasing the spread of this problem with the size of the release you have
been advertising.

>School children around this country need your vote!  What would a science
project dealing with butterflies accomplish without rearing, handling,
and/or releasing a few specimens?  

What does your planned 4th of July release have to do with "school children
around the country"? And a school's release of a "few specimens" is not the
same as releasing 10,000 butterflies at one time.

>If you don't voice your opinion who will?

Based on your second paragraph, it sounds like some individuals are voicing
their opinions which are apparently different from yours. They are as
entitled to their thoughts as you are to yours. You contradict yourself.

>If you want to keep things in balance PLEASE VOTE YES TODAY...

How does the release of 10,000 monarchs "keep things in balance"? Especially
in Portland where only a few are observed annually and some of these few are
probably from school releases. The number of wild monarchs ever observed in
Portland is thought to be quite low.

This project started out as a great media idea. Like in life, a few kinks
have shown up. Try to take the questions and suggestions and put them to
constructive use. Read the book, "Everything I need to know, I learned in
kindergarten."

Patti Ensor, Washington