Hunters to Trap & Shoot Pigs on Santa Cruz Island

[Maverick]

Sounds like you should go to work for Gov. Davis..$$$

 

[Cynic]

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Shouldn't there be anyplace here in the state that can be restored to a condition that existed hundreds of years ago?
Isn't there a place where the introduction of an incredibly destructive species be reversed in order to preserve what is left?[/b]

Not possible. You can't turn back the clock. Second law of thermodynamics, and all. Entrophy cannot decrease (within a closed system, and an island is a closed system).

The moment the pigs were released, the island, as it once was, ceased to exist, and a new island took it's place. The new island has ALWAYS had pigs.

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I just don't see preservation and restoration as a waste of money.[/b]

No, preservation and restoration isn't a waste of money. Anything the government does IS a waste of money, though. Plus, you can't preserve something that is gone. It's GONE, nothing to preserve. No amount of wishing, praying, budgeting or hiring 'professional hunters' is going to bring back the past.

Kill all the pigs and you'll have a pig-less Santa Cruz Island. You WON'T have a pristine island restored to the state it was in before human intervention.

What's with this perverse desire to keep things the way they are, or 'restore' things to the way they were? It's unnatural, and unhealthy. The pigs are there, so might as well hunt them.

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You know, the state could sell the island to Club Med, and they could build golf courses and resorts. The state would make money, prolly alot more than through hunters.. How does that sound?[/b]

I've heard worse ideas. Not concerning Santa Cruz, mind you, but in general.

I value pigs over foxes, and pigs over the relics of a failed civilization. You can eat pigs, but you can't eat 1000 year-old clay pots.

Let the pigs stay, and sell the island to the DFG. Problem solved, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[MrMullen]

I agree with HogHunter on this. This is a complete waste of money.

This is an island that hardly anyone goes too. It's not a huge eco-system or an important one. Were not talking about Yosemite or some other grand park. This is just some small island off the cost of SoCal where a few people goto a year. This "park" is a huge waste of money for the State, the money could be redirected to a better eco-project on the mainland.

I'm all for presevation and eco-repair, but not in cases where the problem can be manged and make money at the same time. I just think the park service or whom ever is kissing up to the enviromental extremest from New York and not listening to the tax payers of California.

The other problem I am seeing is that once they get rid of the Pigs, someone is going to have to kill the Golden Eagles since they have a taste for the Island Kit Fox.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Originally posted by coveybustinchris@Nov 8 2002, 09:17 PM
Sounds like you should go to work for Gov. Davis..$$$

What's he payin'?

Gotta be better than cutting up wood...

Just kidding.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Originally posted by Cynic@Nov 8 2002, 09:53 PM
Not possible. You can't turn back the clock. Second law of thermodynamics, and all. Entrophy cannot decrease (within a closed system, and an island is a closed system).

The moment the pigs were released, the island, as it once was, ceased to exist, and a new island took it's place. The new island has ALWAYS had pigs.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE

I just don't see preservation and restoration as a waste of money.

No, preservation and restoration isn't a waste of money. Anything the government does IS a waste of money, though. Plus, you can't preserve something that is gone. It's GONE, nothing to preserve. No amount of wishing, praying, budgeting or hiring 'professional hunters' is going to bring back the past.

Kill all the pigs and you'll have a pig-less Santa Cruz Island. You WON'T have a pristine island restored to the state it was in before human intervention.

What's with this perverse desire to keep things the way they are, or 'restore' things to the way they were? It's unnatural, and unhealthy. The pigs are there, so might as well hunt them.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

You know, the state could sell the island to Club Med, and they could build golf courses and resorts. The state would make money, prolly alot more than through hunters.. How does that sound?[/b]

I've heard worse ideas. Not concerning Santa Cruz, mind you, but in general.

I value pigs over foxes, and pigs over the relics of a failed civilization. You can eat pigs, but you can't eat 1000 year-old clay pots.

Let the pigs stay, and sell the island to the DFG. Problem solved, as far as I'm concerned.[/b][/quote]
The land will heal itself once the pigs are gone. It won't happen until they are eradicated. In effect, turning back the clock (alot closer at least) to what it was before the pigs.

As for the argument that ANYTHING the goverment does being a waste of money - next time you need the fire department to pay a visit or the cops to come by, tell them to forget it - they're a waste of money. Add your need for Roads, Schools, Libraries, Health Department, etc...
This isn't saying there isn't goverment waste, sure there is - but to say it's all a waste is a little over the top, doncha think?

As for valuing pigs over everything else - I know it's a bit radical, I'll whisper it...Sometimes hunting isn't all there is... To me there's alot more in the outdoors (land and water) than something to shoot or collect and eat. If I am going out to find something to eat, great...but to put the value of targeted game over everything else in the outdoors is to me, losing alot of the big picture, and certainly won't help win any arguments with the Anti's.

 

[Speckmisser]

Gonna throw an amen Rancho Loco's way here, because he's been out on this wire before... and because I believe he's right.

Preservation and restoration don't seem to be problems when it's DU or CWA restoring wetlands... or when CRP restores cropland for upland birds. Why should it be a problem when the object is to restore native habitat that doesn't benefit hunters? Is it only a waste of money if hunters don't get more game to shoot out of the deal?

But this fire has flamed up before. I'd suggest reading it in the old thread, and see if there's anything that hasn't been argued already, before starting it up again.


Santa Cruz Island Hog Discussion

Another Santa Cruz Island Hog Discussion

 

[Two Rugers]

Yea I sent in my application for the Santa Cruz pig hunt.
Bummer I didn't get picked.
How was it?