Dear David and Tweeters,

David is right--the paying of fees to watch birds is indeed a slippery slope. That is why I am not sure whether I agree in principle. However, if pay we must, I do wish we could so do in one, simple, easy installment.

Along the same lines...

As an educator, working in a chronically underfunded, yet very important "industry," I have to shake my head when I think of the money we throw at things like the Iraqi war. Meanwhile, a teacher can't make a bloody photocopy without being warned about the budget.

Meanwhile again, I was practically thunderstruck by the imbalance of it all, just yesterday, Christmas Eve. In the morning, I went to the Fir Island Game Range to look for the Tree and Swamp Sparrows. I missed both, thanks to a heavy rain. The umbrella I had thougtfully brought along was back in the car.

Suddenly I remembered: blinds! How many birding areas had I visited in the Third World (let alone the developed world), where there were blinds set up for birders? How many rainy mornings had I spent, even in a less-than-birder-friendly country like France, comfortably ensconced in a "hide," as the Brits call them? Why on earth isn't there a blind at the Game Range? Or the West Ninety? The price of just one of the smart bombs we have sent to Iraq would make a considerable down payment toward the construction of a blind at every wildlife area in the country, with a few bucks left over for the purchase of a few photocpiers for schools. Ouch!







Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com


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