Please Help the World's Rarest Butterfly

[neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk]

In article <397CEB2D.6B39 at mindspring.com>,
  cherubini at mindspring.com wrote:
> Wynndi D. wrote:
>
> > Please visit the website for more details on how YOU can help the
Palos
> > Verdes Blue
> > http://www.wildlifewebsite.com/pvblue/
>
> 9 times out of 10 these"save the poor rare butterfly campaigns"
involve
> habitats on very pricey parcels real estate as in this case...if one
follows the
> money trail one finds the developers aren't the only ones who stand
to make
> some bucks.
>
> Paul Cherubini

Sadly, it seems, Mr Cherubini sees the world in the bleak monocolour
terms of dollars and cents. From my point of view he is to be pitied
for being blind to the rich coloured tapestry of human experience.

Those of us with a more complete understanding of human emotions will
know that the conservationists involved in this campaign, and I am one,
are involved out of a moral duty and not for any personal gain. Indeed,
for myself personally, this campaign has involved considerable
expenditure for which I neither seek or expect recompense.
It is  difficult to find the words to adequately express what the
extinction of a butterfly means to me.
The quotation by the great American naturalist William Beebe is the
pale wan best
that I can find:-

"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 beings breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must
pass before such a one can be again."

Please do visit the web site and help the Palos Verdes Blue butterfly
avoid this fate.
http://www.wildlifewebsite.com/pvblue/

Many people will be aware of Mr Cherubini by reputation. I have found
during my  current visit that he is a figure of some considerable
notoriety in California.  He is perceived as an odd-ball pesticide
salesman and household pest exterminator who sees it as his mission in
life to oppose conservationists on principle. His ideas about the
principles guiding conservationists are not noted for their basis in
rational truth.

Perhaps the best comment on Mr Cherubini's character comes from the
world renowned butterfly expert Dr Robert M. Pyle. Dr Pyle's work on
lepidoptera will be known to many here and his work with the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature on the conservation
of butterflies has earned him great respect. He is an author of some
considerable repute. His book on North American butterflies for the
Audubon Society has been a constant companion during my current
travels. Here I quote him replying to Mr Cherubini's comments on his
recent and widely acclaimed book "Chasing Monarchs".

"Although I thanked you for your contribution in the acknowledgments,
you have been the one sour voice among a ringing chorus of
congratulations for my book.  Collegial criticism and argument, which I
welcome and respect, is one thing.  Scurrilous misrepresentation and
derogation is quite another. You are not a gentleman, Paul.
If you are to remain on the Monarch Program Board, I shall be obliged
to drop off.I cannot serve with a toxic rogue such as yourself.  I have
worked with butterflies and lepidopterists for forty years because of
the pleasure they bring, and I believe this applies to most
lepidopterists.  I like to give something back through conservation. I
take no enjoyment or satisfaction, however, in the company of
scoundrels."

Neil Jones
Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk
Currently in Orange County, California




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