Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!encore!maxzilla!kaufman
From: kaufman@maxzilla.Encore.COM (Lar Kaufman)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Hunting
Message-ID: <4208@encore.UUCP>
Date: 16 Nov 88 15:37:23 GMT
References: <6641@ihlpf.ATT.COM>
Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu
Reply-To: kaufman@maxzilla.UUCP (Lar Kaufman)
Organization: Encore Computer Corp, Marlboro, MA
Lines: 37

In article <6641@ihlpf.ATT.COM> jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (YES) writes:
>Certainly there are a lot of irresponsible idiots with guns ...
>... But a ban
>on hunting would be a wildlife disaster in that much of the money for
>habitat - not just wetlands - comes from hunting licenses. If you think
>most state legislatures are going to shell out big bucks year after year
>for habitat for songbirds unless it's a state park or otherwise has some
>economic benefit, you're nuts. That money comes from hunter fees and
>conservation groups. 
 
Texas gave animal-lovers the chance to contribute to conservation
directly by offering a non-game stamp. It was much like a hunting
stamp except you were not entitled to hunt and 100% of the funds
derived were earmarked for preservation of habitat and wildlife
resources. It is unfortunately true that this program generated very
little response. I am not sure but I believe it has been discontinued
because the cost of administering it was greater than the funds
generated. 
 
I know that many of us prefer to give to private organizations that we
trust, but we have failed to enlist governmental agencies in a
positive manner for conservation efforts. Remember that the EPA is
oriented toward pollution control, and focused on the human
environment, and that the Department of the Interior gives priority to 
exploiting resources and making lands available for recreation. It is
up to us to make conservation a priority in government so that
everyone is paying for the preservation of everyone's heritage. In the 
mean time, hunters are paying for much of it, and consequently they
can do it "their way." The result is often folly, like the New
Hampshire Moose Massacre this year, but loss of safe habitat is still
a greater threat than the direct activities of "sportsmen."
 
 -lar (secular animist)


 Lar Kaufman   <= my opinions          Fidonet: 1:322/470@508-534-1842 
 kaufman@multimax.arpa    {bu-cs,decvax,necntc,talcott}!encore!kaufman