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 > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: > [log in to unmask] > > Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: > http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp