Butterflies (3 spp.) and the F&WS

[Pierre A Plauzoles]

Mark Walker wrote:

> David Smith wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >     What everyone seems to overlook in these debates is that
> > someone owns
> > the land that you are talking about and very reasonably has
> > plans for it. If
> > that person cannot use the land in the way that they want to then the
> > government should reemburse him (or her) for their loss. That
> > is the way
> > things have historically worked (at least in the U. S.) and
> > that is the only
> > honest way to do it. If the government does not reemburse the
> > owner then
> > they are thieves. Why should one person or organisation bear
> > the burden of
> > preserving a species, subspecies, or local population of an
> > organism? Don't
> > get me wrong, I am in favor of habitat preservation but I don't think
> > another should bear the burden for what I want done.
>
> Valid and pertinent.  I contend that this was exactly the case with the
> described Quino habitat in Murrieta.  So Clay is correct - "we" screwed up
> in not securing the habitat.  It was obvious what the outcome would be,
> given the extent of growth and expansion in the immediate area.

There is another overlooked aspect to this whole debate.  How many of us (in
the general sense, not just entomologists) have a knowledge of entomology
sufficient to assess a piece of land for its need for this that or the other
action to be taken in the direction of preservation?  I would be willing to
bet that not even 1% of the general population has taken even a single
semester of field ecology or any other field course in the natural sciences,
either in high school or in college.  Why then should it be any surprise that
there is such ignorance of the needs of wildlife in general, let alone a
particular species such as the Stephens Kangaroo Rat, the El Segundo Blue, or
the Quino Checkerspot?  All a developer looks at is what his (and his
contractors') machinery can do with the land he is looking at and how much
leaner his pocket book will be when the work is finished, not what it will do
to what is unfortunate enough to reside on that land when he gets there to
start work.

Pierre A Plauzoles
sphinxangelorum at bigfoot.com



 
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