US Government Wants 500,000 Owls To Be Shot Dead in Cull (wildlife, wild)

[509]

The problem was NOT the good science.

The problem was the application of political science by scientists (Gang of Four) to natural processes.

The problem with scientists is they know a LOT about a LITTLE. We need people that know a LITTLE about a LOT.

In the long run, earth will be just a baked rock and none of this will matter.

[SkyLark2019]

Sad but necessary.

[Nancy739]

In my humble opinion the Government at this time has its' head up its' *** and should not go around blowing up innocent owls.

[SkyLark2019]

Originally Posted by Nancy739

In my humble opinion the Government at this time has its' head up its' *** and should not go around blowing up innocent owls.

The owls are preying on other owls, disrupting the local ecosystem.

[509]

Originally Posted by Nancy739

In my humble opinion the Government at this time has its' head up its' *** and should not go around blowing up innocent owls.

Then write you Congress person and ask them to repeal the Endangered Species Act. Is that what you REALLY want??

You don't want Federal agencies ignoring the law.

[Diana Holbrook]

I HATE this policy.

This is a flawed policy that demands change and evolution should all STOP at some arbitrary point in time.

They will kill all these Barred Owls and the Spotted Owl will still go extinct.

The Barred Owl is a stronger, more adaptive owl better suited for the world as it IS.

This is survival of the fittest in action.

[Deserterer]

Originally Posted by James Bond 007

I would still call that natural. It's not like some humans released some captured or captive owls far outside their natural range and then they expanded in the new locale.

Then logically you would also have to call every ecological effect, range change and extinction that result of climate change natural too. That is stretching the definition IMO. These things happen in response to unnatural, anthropogenic disturbances. Unless you want to argue that anything humans do is also natural, which is a similar stretch.

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by Deserterer

Then logically you would also have to call every ecological effect, range change and extinction that result of climate change natural too. That is stretching the definition IMO. These things happen in response to unnatural, anthropogenic disturbances. Unless you want to argue that anything humans do is also natural, which is a similar stretch.

Of course the affects of climate change are natural effects. As are the impacts of humans. We are not unnatural, though some try to pretend we are. More to the point, we're not going away.

Darwin's law does not make distinctions between the need to adapt to "approved" changes versus those environmental changes we don't approve of. The need to adapt or die is an imperative no matter what the cause.

I don't think it's right to try to correct one perceived wrong by committing another wrong.

[Deserterer]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

Of course the affects of climate change are natural effects. As are the impacts of humans. We are not unnatural, though some try to pretend we are. More to the point, we're not going away.

Darwin's law does not make distinctions between the need to adapt to "approved" changes versus those environmental changes we don't approve of. The need to adapt or die is an imperative no matter what the cause.

I don't think it's right to try to correct one perceived wrong by committing another wrong.

Many if not most humans think we have a responsibility not to cause extinction of other life forms on the planet. Regardless, it's the law. Like it or not, barred owls expanded their range and are threatening the survival of spotted owls because of massive human landscape alterations, some of it exploitative and some of it incidental.

[Diana Holbrook]

I agree we should be the best stewards we can be. We only differ on that that means. Like it or not, species and their range HAS ALWAYS CHANGED over time. That too, is natural process.

Whether the Spotted Owl is failing to thrive because of man or not, the conditions causing it aren't likely to change. It's reality time. Species need to be able to adapt to reality. It's fantasy to shoot a bunch of Barred Owls every year in perpetuity and call that better "nature". That's the worst kind of human meddling, imho.