Jason Rogers said:
Neither Rob nor I have expressed concerns about the Garry oak ecosystem, not
that there is really much to compare between people of a subsistence culture
burning land to feed themselves and you hanging a feeder to entertain
yourself.I would argue that there are similarities between the indigenous peoples of western Washington and modern Euro-American cultures that live here now: the primary one being that they/we both radically altered our natural environment for our own purposes. If it had not been for their annual "subsistence" burning there would have been no prairies or oak woodlands, or all the wonderful species that inhabit them today, and offer such extensive diversity (both floral and faunal) that we all have inherited and enjoy. Had it not been for their extensive manipulation of their environment, we probably wouldn't have (had) Lewis' Woodpeckers, Slender-billed White-breasted Nuthatches, Sandhill Cranes, Oregon Vesper Sparrows, Western Bluebirds, Streaked-horned Larks, Common Nighthawks, Lazuli Buntings, Western Meadowlarks, and Chipping Sparrows in the Puget Sound. Of course having said that, the big difference between historical indigenous cultures and us 'new comers' is our ethic towards nature and our environment, manipulated or not.

Rod Gilbert
rodgilbert1 at comcast.net