Yeah, Wow!! Kudos to both of you.
On Dec 15, 2009, at 4:56 PM, William Witt wrote:

> I thank my longtime friend Lanny for speaking his mind.  I've  
> thanked him in the past for the elk meat that he has given me,  
> which was good, tasty and nutritious, to eat.  I have another  
> friend who avidly hunts deer in NE Iowa;  I hunt the banks of the  
> Garonne and the Rhone, and sometimes we trade:  one of his venison  
> roasts for a bottle of my Bordeaux or Lirac.
>
> I'll repeat:  I have no quarrel with ethical hunters.  (In my  
> youth, I hunted pheasants and was proud of my wing-shooting  
> prowess.)  Hunters provide a real service, natural and economic,  
> plus some good eating, and I appreciate that.
>
> But I do differ strongly with the notion that hunters can be the  
> sole significant predator group, sufficient to maintain ecological  
> balance.  Ninety thousand deer hunters haven't--and can't--balance  
> the overpopulated deer herd in Iowa, nor could the hunters control  
> the elk herd in Yellowstone.  That's just regarding numbers.  It's  
> also been shown in study after study that natural predators are  
> necessary to maintain the overall health and vigor of their prey  
> populations, as well as balance and health in the plant communities  
> that are the base of their food chains.
>
> Yes, people go nuts with their fears of lions and wolves and bears,  
> oh my.  But does that mean that rational, informed people should  
> endlessly pander to them and acquiesce in the needless and wasteful  
> things they demand be done?
>
> BW
>
> On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Orlando Schwartz  
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I agree somewhat with my friend Bill Witt.  I sometimes send a note  
> to this web site  in defense of hunting.  I think that if I were  
> out hunting deer and saw a mountain lion (which I know is legal  
> game in Iowa) I would likely shoot it.  Partly it would be my  
> trophy.  Partly because I really don't think we need them  
> established in Iowa.  A few years ago I recall the Sierra Club was  
> promotion legal protection for mountain lions in the statbe.  I  
> said then and I would say now, keep your verbal and written power  
> dry and save them for something important.  The public is afraid of  
> mountain lions, with at least a bit of reason  since we see attacks  
> on human in other states.  The public also knows that mountain  
> lions do kill pets and livestock.   But mainly, people are  
> emotionally afraid of them.  This is a situation where the public  
> will think, what the H... is that wacko Sierra Club doing trying to  
> protect mountain lions.  S.C. defense of mountain lions will cost  
> the club a lot of public goodwill.  I agree with Bill that the DNR  
> is too mysterious about mountain lions in the state.
>
> But then, if I were in charge of things I don't think I would have  
> introduced the wolves into Yellowstone.  It has controlled the elk  
> in the park and helped restore the natural habitat.  But it has  
> cost money by the 10's of millions and it has cost so much to the  
> cause of conservation.  If people are emotional about mt. lions,  
> that pales in comparison to their emotions about wolves--it borders  
> on superstitions.  You ought to read people's irrational comments  
> about wolves in hunting magazines such as Outdoor Life.   Again if  
> I were in charge, I likely would have controlled the elk in  
> Yellowstone by allowing hunters to harvest the surplus.  It would  
> have had the same outcome and raised money for the parks.
> OK mountain lion lovers, commence firing.
> Lanny Schwartz
>
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