Dennis Paulson wrote:
"Can anyone marshall a good argument why it's OK to "control" ravens
and gulls but not Bald Eagles? This question is not directed to those who
think *no* animals should be killed to manage species or ecosystems. Or at
least no charismatic vertebrates. Most everyone probably thinks it's fine
to kill fire ants, house flies, carp, Norway rats and starlings. Where
should the line be drawn?"

The line can't be drawn. "Managing" wildlife, be it raptors, endangered
species or cowbirds is a reoccurring theme on Tweeters and Birdchat, not
to mention the Wildlife Damage list. A long time ago ecologist Garrett
Hardin said, "You can't do just one thing." I call it Hardin's Law, but it
is also called the Law of Unanticipated Consequences. Everything *is*
connected to everything else but, since our technological mind has evolved
much more rapidly than our ethical/rationale mind, we tend to make a lot of
ecological (and other) blunders.

Since earliest recorded history it appears that "man" has decided that
"he" has "dominion over all the fowls of the air . . . ." That's a pretty
heavy responsibility; I suspect that it is the original Pandora's Box. As
a result we have to manage *everything* with all of the consequent
tradeoffs and Unanticipated Consequences. It's folly to think we can write
a recovery plan for just one species, destroy and fragment habitat,
extirpate "vermin" (and then try to help them recover) without considering
the effects reverberating through the whole system, or just walk away from
the problem in the name of free trade, economic freedom, or personal
isolationism. (Much as I admire Voltaire we can't just tend our own
garden.)

Thus, there is no question in my mind that we must try to control rats,
flies, termites, mongooses, Starlings, Bald Eagles, Cowbirds, gulls, crows
or whatever, in the most environmentally benign way, unless and until we
can reestablish balanced habitats and communities (of a kind we can agree
upon) that are self-regulating. I am skeptical and pessimistic that we can
do either successfully. Two examples of our quandary: controversies over
removing Mountain Goats from Olympic National Park and vegetating Montlake
Fill.

Herb Curl
Seattle WA


h.curl at hazmat.noaa.gov "You may be only young once but you can be
Hazmat/NOAA, 7600 Sand Pt. Wy., NE immature the rest of your life."
Seattle, WA 98115-0070
(206) 526-6272