RESPONSE

[Neil Jones]

In message <3381B5A1.5BFC at spiritone.com> tatoosh at SPIRITONE.COM writes:
> It is amazing to me that Anne Kilmer is now the voice of wisdom.  You
> say my head is inflated.  That is a friendly thing to say!

I am concerned about the behaviour exhibited here. It is not considered an
approriate thing to post private corespondence of this kind onto a public
newsgroup. Anne Kilmer's words are not diplomatic, but at least she had the
courtesy and courage to tell the person whom she criticised what she was
saying.
"Tatoosh" having blurted the message across the net  seems only to validate
her comments. Over sensitivity to criticism could be construed as evidence
of "an inflated head".
I would hope that this behaviour is as a result of inexperience and that
an apology will result. 
 
> first of all there are hundreds and thousands of people interested in
> butterflies.  And for those not aware, they have been releasing
> butterflies for centuries.  I must persume then that now that I have
> promoted a release as a national event it must be a crime.

Just because someone has been doing things for centuries does not make it
right. I suspect though that there is some exaggeration in this statment.
 
> Sedond, you must get your facts straight - Portland has Monarchs!
> 
> And one word of wisdom, the Monarchs are permitted to be released.

This is not necessarily a word of wisdom. The permitting of an act does not
necessarily make it right. The authorities may simply have been unaware of the
problems this kind of thing can cause.
I was once in favour of this kind of thing myself but having become actively
involved in conserving butterflies I know of the problems and dangers of
releasing butterflies. Here in the UK we now have serious problems evaluating
the status of one of our declining species due to well meaning individuals
dabbling with its populations.
The whole matter was debated a while ago on Leps-L and the overwheming consensus
of opinion was that releases like this were not a good idea.


There is a serious lesson here for all lepidopterists. This kind of dabbling
is likely in the long term to cause a tightening of the regulations making life
more difficult for everyone.

< Publicly quoted private correspondence snipped>


-- 
Neil Jones- Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk "The beauty and genius of a work of art
may be reconceived, though its first material expression be destroyed; a
vanished harmony may yet again inspire the composer; but when the last
individual of a race of living things breathes no more another heaven and
another earth must pass before such a one can be again." William Beebe