My, but we're a passionate lot. :-)

All who have commented on the grazing/rangelands/wildlife/birds thread =
have had excellent points. As 'environmentalists', we are all =
interested in having a healthy, properly-functioning ecosystem on the =
Western ranges. As members of our community, though, we are also =
participants in the greater society - we use the lumber in our houses, =
eat the produce (some of us even eat beef and wear leather shoes :-)), =
drink the water and use the electricity. All of which result from the =
subsidized public resources domain.

The cows thread began with my admittedly trite comment on Gilbert et =
al.'s statement that cattle grazing removed cover used by nesting ducks. =
In an area with one of the highest nesting densities ever recorded. I =
found that ironic. Still do...

The grazing in their paper did not take place on the sagebrush steppe, =
or on the prairie grassland of Colorado, for that matter. By the =
species assembledge reported in their monograph, and according to their =
report, it appears that the cattle were grazed on a 14,000-acre complex =
of *constructed* wetlands!

For that matter, the main areas grazed at Malheur NWR are not sagebrush =
steppe areas. Rather, they are seasonally flooded meadows - mostly =
along the Donner und Blitzen. This parcel of real estate has been =
grazed heavily or used as hay fields since Pete French owned it, the =
riparian zone had long since been fried, and the natural riparian zone =
was destroyed decades ago with the channelization of the River. =
Remember, our best birding is along the DIKE of the Center Patrol Road, =
not in the natural meanders of the river - there is no natural flood =
plain. I don't know how many people remember Malheur from 20 years ago, =
or can compare the area with today's habitat, but I remember NO riparian =
cover along the river in 1974. By 1983, when I summered over there, =
most of the waterbird census transects were darned-near impossible to =
run accurately because the vegetation had obscured the view following =
the reduction of AUMs in the Mazzoni years. To the point that this area =
was one of the few in the region where the Breeding Bird Census route =
had willow flycatcher and yellow warbler numbers stable or increasing!

I guess my main point - and it's often hard for me to find one - is that =
we, as conservationists, ought to be able to look at an issue (any =
issue) from all sides, and work with all interests for that "win-win" =
solution. Work for resolution on the common concerns we have. Sorry =
that I'm not as 'radical' as I was 25 years ago, but I've seen lots more =
lost when sides are taken and the controversy is adversarial than when =
the 'opposing camps' can find areas of commonality and agree to resolve =
the problems at hand. As I age, I find myself with less patience for =
those who are willing to lose the resource, just to keep up the fight.

I wouldn't suggest for a minute that we cut anyone any slack when we see =
resources Abused. Maybe, if we'd focus our effort on correcting abusive =
grazing (as well as over-fishing, the use of exotic plant species, =
development of farmland in the flood plain, and unethical birding =
practices :-)), we'd be better off than trying to stop *all* use of the =
public lands. My impression is that the responsible cowboys want =
healthy rangeland as much as the rest of us. When we polarize the =
situation, we spend all our time fighting over it and none of our time =
fixing the problems.

I'll shut up now :-)

Jon. -am I getting too old for all this? - Anderson
Olympia, Wash
festuca at olywa.net