Please Help the World's Rarest Butterfly

[Pierre A Plauzoles]

neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk wrote:

> 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

Amen, Neil!  ... and literate, too.

Pierre A Plauzoles
sphinxangelorum at bigfoot.com