On Thu, 11 Jul 1996, Don Baccus wrote:
> Overall, though, USF&W does a pretty good job of providing habitat
> for non-game birds in some places.

I agree. The USFWS did start out managing refuges as duck refuges.
Certainly that is the legacy they established. But come on, that was
'wildlife' back then. They are coming around now. Take a look at Little
Pend Oreille NWR for example. There are some ponds on the refuge, and
thus some ducks, but the place is certainly not teeming with them. It's
mostly forested and thus protects all the nongame species within those
forests (Little Pend Oreille contains examples of 6 distinct forest
zones), which is a fairly high diversity.

As far as hunting goes, those of us who are interested in conserving
wildlife should stick together (that is us and them). Hunters are not the
environmentalist's adversary. In a time when congressional Republicans
are at every turn trying to sell off or develop our natural areas, we need
to provide a united front. The fact that they kill a few birds does not
mean they're not interested in preserving them.

-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike/mike.html