Like Dennis Paulson, I was appalled to see islands in the Dry Tortugas
denuded by the campaign to rid them of Australian Pines. Thank you so much
for clarifying the issue. It is indeed a dilemma, and thanks to you I now
understand it a little better. We witnessed a dramatic fallout of birds in
the Dry Tortugas. It was wonderful to see so many species up close. But it
was also sad, because we knew most would starve because of the protracted
storm. We saw Cattle Egrets devouring swallows and warblers too weak to
fly. But it's a natrual phenomenon that occurs regularly, whether or not it
is witnessed by people. Redstarts and warblers would sit within arms reach,
but did not recognize our handouts (chips, buns and burgers) as food. One
of the guides once smuggled in meal worms for the birds and was almost
arrested for introducing non-native life.
Gene
bullockg at earthlink.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christian Kessler" <northraven at cox.net>
To: "Brett Wolfe" <m_lincolnii at yahoo.com>
Cc: "Dennis Paulson" <dennispaulson at comcast.net>; "Tweeters"
<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 8:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] eradication for worse


> if they cut all the trees they destroy the habitat and leave all the
> birds, insects, & other animals no place to live -- heathen thugs. but if
> they don't cut all the trees at once, they leave trees to seed and
> continue to spread invasive species to continue to destroy the native
> biota and run amok, ruining the native habitat -- mindless thugs. I have
> spent hours siting as a "witness" while your elected representatives
> humiliate & berate me for implementing the laws they passed, or making
> choices just like the one you are discussing. I would be interested in a
> serious discussion of how such choices should be made, and what in fact
> you do expect from us who "are guvmint," perhaps starting, just for the
> sake of argument, with the premise that we are not utter fools but perhaps
> seeking balance the kinds of either/or decisions discussed here. and if
> the issue is not "bothering to put anything else out there in their place"
> perhaps you can elect representatives who tax you sufficiently that such
> is an option.
> just a bit of steam from one who has spent 28 years seeking to do your
> bidding, with the constraints and resources your elected representatives
> afford me.
>
> I look forward to the discussion, but know there will be flaming. it
> comes with the job -- that's okay.
>
> chris kessler
> falls church & seattle
>
> Brett Wolfe wrote:
>> Hi Dennis, et al.,
>> Something similar happened at the San Joaquin River NWR outside Modesto,
>> CA a couple years back. They had a huge amount of Tobacco trees on the
>> property and just cut them all down at once, without bothering to put
>> anything else out there in their place. Unfortunately, this has had a
>> huge effect on the Black-chinned Hummingb irds that had been there in the
>> thousands while the Tobacco trees had been there, feeding on the flowers.
>> I'm assuming some were able to move elsewhere, but considering the
>> overall lack of habitat in the CA Central Valley (it's all ag land), most
>> of them probably starved or died sooner than they otherwise would have.
>> Very few Black-chins to see unless you had a feeder out in that area. Sad
>> that our government employees, whose salaries we pay, aren't any more
>> foresighted than that. To be expected I guess, they are guvmint.
>> Brett A. Wolfe
>> Seattle, WA
>> m_lincolnii at yahoo.com <mailto:m_lincolnii at yahoo.com>
>>
>> */Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net>/* wrote:
>>
>> To follow the Russian olive thread, I was shocked when I arrived
>> at the Dry Tortugas last spring to find that the National Park
>> Service had cut down all the Australian pines (Casuarina) on
>> Loggerhead Key. Loggerhead is the largest island in the little
>> archipelago and the one that usually has the most migrant birds on
>> it. Casuarinas furnished a woodland on that key that provided
>> habitat/cover for lots of tree-dwelling passerines and was usually
>> full of birds during migration when I visited there years ago.
>> There are no other trees of note on the island, just shrubs and a
>> few scraggly small trees. Because it's not native, Casuarina had
>> to go, another reduction in usable bird habitat because of a
>> knee-jerk reaction. Worse, the NPS was talking about cutting down
>> some of the large trees on the parade ground within Fort Jefferson
>> on Garden Key because they're not native Florida trees. There
>> aren't that many trees there, and every one serves as important
>> habitat and presumably food sources (leaf-eating insects) for
>> migrants, but the park service has its protocol, and it must be
>> followed to the letter, much like worker ants. It's hard to
>> understand the reasoning of people who think only in absolutes.
>> -----
>> Dennis Paulson
>> 1724 NE 98 St.
>> Seattle, WA 98115
>> 206-528-1382
>>
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