Saving the Spotted Owl

The Constitution Club ^ | 02-23-11 | Hal Jordan

[TheConservativeCitizen]

For no reason I know of, the thought of endangered species came to mind on Tuesday morning. Then I saw this article and started wondering about synchronicity. I’m sure it’s just coincidence, but the entire story is so improbable that it seems like an April Fool’s Day joke. I don’t even know whether to laugh or cry or howl in rage.

Back in the late 80s/early 90s, the Great Spotted Owl provided employment for way too many environmental activists and caused unemployment for way too many loggers. We were assured that if the logging industry would stop cutting down trees, the Spotted Owls would come back and everything would be fine. That didn’t happen.

Replacing junk science with real research, we now realize that the Spotted Owl decline had nothing to do with logging and everything to do with its raptor rival, the Barred Owl. It’s bigger and stronger and not so picky about where it nests and hunts. The Spotted Owl can’t compete, so it continues to die out.

The reasonable response to this news by the environmental activists would be, “Oh, we’re sorry, we were mistaken. Go ahead and start logging again, and include those 8.6 million acres that we took away from you through the courts.” Ha-ha, silly person, you’re expecting a reasonable response? Think again, and you would never in a million years come up with the real story.

The real story is that there are plans in the works to save the Spotted Owl at any cost, including killing barred owls. This makes absolutely no sense. It’s not like trying to eradicate zebra mussels or protect against Med Flies. The Barred Owl is native to North America, and it is not a pest. Basically they are planning to kill big, strong, beautiful birds who play a vital role in our ecosystem. The government report calls it barred owl management. I call it needless slaughter and animal cruelty.

Here’s an alternative plan: let nature take its course. Back off, get out of the forest, let the Spotted Owl and the Barred Owl compete naturally, and may the best raptor win. According to the report, if we take no further action, we will be saving $147.1 million over 30 years that could better be spent on maintaining bridges or upgrading the national power grid (or building bullet trains). It’s apparent that the Spotted Owls are going to become extinct anyway, because they can’t compete. Hey, it’s survival of the fittest, right?

This brings me back to the point of my initial thoughts on Tuesday. What is the big problem with the extinction of a species like the Great Spotted Owl? If it’s replaced by its bigger, stronger cousin the Barred Owl in a process of natural selection, then the forest becomes a better place with not so many rodent pests running around. How many billion dollars will we spend to keep this bird (or any of several oddly-shaped snails or weirdly-colored mice) alive?

[snuffy smiff]

Naw, here’s the best recipe for spotted owl: remove the breast from rest of bird and wrap with bacon. Cook until done on real charcoal fire-preferably mesquite. Let cool, remove bacon and eat(damn it’s good!) Throw spotted owl breast away(they taste like crap but impart such a great flavor into bacon!)

Figure about 16 spotted owl breasts per person...

...good hunting!

[yawningotter]

Yeah, I can see how a Barred Owl call would startle someone who has never heard them before. That first long “hoooo” when the owl is announcing their presence does sound like a big, loud ghost. I grew up with owls in my neighborhood, and whenever I heard the Bluejay police squawking up a storm, I knew a big owl was near. Beautiful birds, and adaptable, too. They didn’t need thousands of acres of old growth forest to survive. They grew big and fat in the middle of Montgomery eating the squirrels that ate our pecans.

[Saltmeat]

Yep. They told us that the spotted owl need 200-year old timber to nest in. Really! Did you ever wonder where the spotted owl nested during the first 200 years?

[Fantasywriter]

Squirrels aren’t all they eat. Some in this area claim the barred owls are what keep the feral cat population low. There are even claims they take small dogs. Not sure I believe that, but my Dr. does. Once on my regular apt. he remarked my blood pressure was high, which wasn’t typical. I said I was worried about a four-mo/o puppy that had gone missing. He assured me a barred owl had eaten it. Not what I wanted to hear. Plus, I found the puppy—alive and VERY happy to see me—five days later.

[redpoll]

Once, a long time, when I was the editor of a weekly Oregon newspaper, I did a story about some of the land set aside for the spotted owl near my town. I went right to the center of the spotted owl set-aside. It was a huge clearcut surrounded by dozens of square miles of second-growth Douglas fir. The local environmentalists were steamed, especially by the photos. It was just one of the many steps that led me to the conservativism I embrace today.

You know, I don’t miss the Emerald People’s Republic that much, except for my garden, which was spectacular.

[bog trotter]

Here in MI the current idol of the idle is the Karner Blue butterfly. They have kicked people out of a big chunks of National Forest (former recreation area). They’re going to cut thousands of trees, spray “alien” plants with stuff you and I couldn’t even possess and raise general havoc with the area. All to create more habitat for a tiny butterfly whose only distinction from a Melissa Blue Butterfly is a bent reproductive organ on the male.
Now wouldn’t you kinda think that this critter’s low population might be some of that survival of the FITTEST stuff. Like maybe they have a problem making “ends meet.
But then, that’s the way our government does best, preserving the worthless at the expense of the worker bees.
.

[azkathy]

EnvironMentalists were the largest contributing factor to the Rodeo-Chediski Forest fires in AZ in 2002. Those fires are what pushed me to be active in politics and to be an outspoken conservative.

Hmmmm maybe they have done some good here in America. They encourage people to speak the truth to counter their lies and to get involved.