Monday, March 19, 2007

Telegraph article

Here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Both sides of the dispute agree on the need to continue conservation efforts in the Big Woods of Arkansas, 550,000 acres of bayous, forests and oxbow lakes that would benefit the elusive woodpecker."

Both sides should not agree that this is a high priority area for bird conservation. I'm certain Tim Allwood could name 100 more deserving places in Asia alone, where endangered endemic birds actually exist.

In the USA, limited resources for bird conservation should be spent in places such as Hawaii, not in Arkansas.

Anonymous said...

Above is a false choice

Anonymous said...

"Above is a false choice"

OK, what's the real choice?

Do you dispute the following facts:

1. Lots of federal and other money has been wasted to "save" an already extinct bird

2. Effective conservation measures for real endangered birds are underfunded

3. Many real endangered birds in need of more funding live only in Hawaii, but none only or primarily in Arkansas

and 4. There are far more foreign endangered birds desperately in need of funding than US birds.

If I'm wrong please state why.

If the Big Woods is critical habitat for an endangered bird please name it, and I will be happy to inform you that it is either extinct, not endangered, or more common elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

IBWO athiest says, "There are far more foreign endangered birds desperately in need of funding than US birds"
Really? Birds need funding? Birds observe political bounderies? Then we need to start a "Birds without Borders" program, and let the handouts begin.

Anonymous said...

"Really? Birds need funding?"

Conservation efforts for many species require funding if we wish them to survive.

"Birds observe political bounderies?"

They observe biogeographic boundaries which often correspond to some extent with political ones.
Only some birds are long-distance migrants and many are restricted to a single country.

"Then we need to start a "Birds without Borders" program, and let the handouts begin."

There are already several good international organizations devoted to bird conservation, and useful work by these should be supported. Regarding handouts, I'm far more concerned about Halliburton.