Today's AP Wire story

[sdbowyer]

I have to agree with ooja, now the visitors will be hands-off, very controlled nature tours with people looking at the pristine environment and commenting on how very pristine it is- and most likely never see one fox. Scientists who specialize in foxes will call it an absolute paradise. From the shore we can say "You see that island way over there in the mist? It's pristine."

 

[ooja]

Rancho - Respectfully, we don’t agree on everything. I am okay with that.

We do agree that the hogs are not natural and if that environment is being returned to its natural state, they have to go.

I am glad you see the red herrings Rancho, I am sad that you don’t see who created them in the first place. I was trying to keep from writing deeply on this topic to explain my line of thinking, but I can see that I need to spell it out; here it is.

The preservationists decided that they were going to return an island back to the state that it was before man introduced invasive species, the feral hog. They did this by using a red herring. It was the concept that the pigs which people put on the island have destroyed native species and their habitats, and must be removed, that removing the pigs will fix this problem. I will accept that, however I am looking at an island, that is covered with orchards, buildings, roads, docks, and I don’t even know what else. So the concept is that we remove the pigs, the environment will return to what it was and native species will live as they always have. This is how the media presented it to me in all the articles that I have read on this eradication.

Here is where I call BS. They are not making the island “return to what it was and native species will live as they always have.” There is no plan to remove all the damage that people have done. They are only planning on removing pigs. Fine imagine they are gone…is that island the way it was?

No? It is only a little like it was, with buildings roads, orchards and docks. At least no pigs. So what have we done by removing the pigs? We removed the hunters. The old buildings that were hunting lodges, are now used by people who can watch the foxes grow and thrive under a not even close to pristine environment.

Yeah I smell red herrings alright. I smell the ones that the enviros used to get rid of hunters by eradicating their prey…of course the roads, and all the other junk will stay because it is nice for enviros to have roads and houses and orchards and such.

I am sorry but this is ridiculous. If they don’t make a real effort to remove all the damage man has done, they are being selective. They are selective in what they want to get rid of and it happens to be pigs and consequently hunters.

Are you saying this is coincidental? My problem is:

“It is difficult to believe a man if you know you would lie if you were in his place.”

If I were an enviro, I would use whatever method necessary to get rid of the hunters. Well they won, we are gone, however they didn’t do a damn thing else to repair the place.

Return the species to its original environment…They might as well set up a condo, maybe a sushi bar, a couple of golf carts, maybe set up a driving range…as long as those pigs are not there! I fish that island all the time. I can see the damage from the boat, it has definitely been “civilized.” Long after those pigs are gone it will still look civilized unless they do something about it.

No way, get rid of it all or be guilty of hypocrisy that is all I see here.

Hunters got played. The public got played. A special interest group put out a red herring and people bought it.

Empty island, if they want to study the foxes, they should beach land using kayaks and hike. All that other stuff must be removed. If they did this I would have no beef at all. I am asking them to look at those red herrings they made, and make good on them as promises they must keep.

 

[PIGIG]

They will never get rid of all of them pigs, but they will get them to controllable population, to where the foxes and mice will not be threatened for their own existence on the island, at that point they should let the hunters control what they left behind. Since the introduction of the pigs there has not been enough hunting if any to control them, we have the same problem in our state parks. Buy they say we cant let hunters run around the parks while people are camping and hiking in the park! Well looks like Lake Sonoma personal is doing it just fine. Hats off to the corps and rangers in Sonoma

 

[Franklin3]

Amen PIGIG<
do you know what the most invasive non native species is? well it aint the feral pig.

It' the feral cat, peoples pets gone off and eliminating native bird populations by the hundreds of species annually. At the rate the population of feral cat is growing there won't be a single native species of song bird left on the continental US in 25 years.

My question is

WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE AND THE ERADICATION CRY?

Lake Davis Northern Pike eradication effort results over the past 12 years DFG big fat 0, Northern pike 2. I caught northern pike and lake trout both in davis lake as a kid and according to my grandfather they were cohabitating in the lake for many years before that.

Non native species my red ***
Somebodys' stinking personal agenda is more like it.

 

[PIGIG]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Franklin3 @ Mar 22 2006, 12:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Amen PIGIG<
do you know what the most invasive non native species is? well it aint the feral pig.[/b]

Unh Goverment

 

[Franklin3]

Government?
Invasive non native species?
I can't argue that one with you!

 

[bayedsolid]

ooja-- Good post.