Having listened to a brief account of the Peru/Ecuador war on NPR this
morning, it became clear to me that the President of Ecuador probably has
things on his mind more important than criticism of his national-parks
policies. I somehow doubt if anyone is "hiding behind" the war to avoid
dealing with the issue. Imagine how much time our president would spend on
wolf poachers in Denali NP (and how much attention he would pay to
complaints from other countries) if we were fighting a border war. I'm not
trying to rationalize what's going on in the Galapagos in any way, but
let's hope the war finishes soon so our entreaties (or threats) will have
greater effect. I suspect the Ministry of External Relations, the e-mail
address of which seems to be open, is being kept rather busy, too. If
anyone receives a reply from Ecuador, please share it.

Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416