08-13-2019, 08:18 AM
(08-13-2019, 01:51 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: None of that seems all that world ending as some people are trying making it out to be. All of that sounds relatively reasonable, even if a bit shady reasoning.
That is honestly how a lot of environmental and wildlife protections have been stripped away over the years. Small, incremental changes that appear reasonable but really result in corporate interests overtaking things. This is true not just in conservation, but in many policy arenas.
(08-13-2019, 01:51 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Granted I personally just care more about curbing pollution that I care about some Delta Smelt (which the US Government spent $10m.
Delta smelt are an indicator species, which are vitally important to our understanding of human impacts on our waterways. Their presence, or lack thereof, can tell us the overall health of a given waterway and what we may expect for other life along the path including larger species in the area, plants, and even humans. A waterway in trouble is trouble for humans.
(08-13-2019, 01:51 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The US currently has 1,471 listed animals, including at least 21 different kinds of *SALAMANDER*. We have probably gone a little too far the other way as far as protections go.
Why? Don't be knocking my pal Plethodon shenandoah, now. Our environment is a delicately balanced ecosystem. The anthropocene has done a lot of things to throw off that balance in many ways and we spent centuries not giving a damn about that. We have caused the extinction of countless species without ever thinking about how that could affect the overall ecosystem. We need to be smart about conservation, but we also need to recognize when these valuable species need our help.
Except giant pandas. They are just trying to go extinct with their terrible diet and lack of sex.
(08-13-2019, 01:51 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: ......I am also tired of those damn Canadian Geese being protected and just shitting EVERYWHERE and are aggressive. So if we have to trade some Delta Smelt and some River Mussel to be able to treat them like feral hogs and just get rid of those, I can get on board.
I know you're being facetious, here, but Canadian geese aren't protected. They are "Least Concern" as far as the IUCN status. There is a more nuanced answer than that related to the North American Model of Wildlife Management, though, but that is for a different discussion that would get far, far nerdier than I intended this thread to be.
Conservation is where I can get reeeeeeeeeeeeeal nerdy/wonky.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
