I have read Dinsmore's book, Carl, and I thank you for reminding us of it.  And your point about our immature lack of respect for nature and nature's creatures, and how our avarice is piqued when we find something rare and there are no restraints on taking it.   I share your perplexity in wondering "if we will ever get past that part of our nature."  What's vexing in this latest--and so many similar-- cases is that the people we hire, the professional game biologists and policy administrators, seem unwilling or incapable of helping Iowans achieve new awareness and values.  I've not heard one of them speak up in support of putting cougars, bears, or moose into the state administrative code.  As for the occasional appearance of these magnificent animals within our borders, if you offer DNR any amount of evidence short of a carcass, they will categorically deny that  you saw what you well know you saw. 
And in the case of mysterious, beautiful, small charismatic animals like otters and bobcats, they will ignore or override those who offer serious, well-informed criticism of their management plans--and bow to political expediency. 
 
Note to Lanny:  The fact that sharpshooters and bowhunters can signficantly reduce urban deer herds confined to relatively small areas is largely irrelevant to the problem of controlling hundreds of thousands of deer inhabiting millions of acres.  And seeing only a couple of deer during your hunt in Winneshiek County is, as you the scientist understand, is purely anecdotal.  In Winneshiek and Allamakee counties last winter and earlier this winter, I have seen deer by the score, hundreds in total.  I'm sorry you didn't get your fresh venison this time.  The larger question:  can we believe DNR's assertion that the statewide deer herd will be reduced to 175,000 in 2 or 3 years?  I'd tell the DNR what they tell us about cougars:  when you've counted the carcasses, maybe I'll believe you...but not until.
 
And Cindy, excellent points.  I would argue that "we" do not manage for native biodiversity.  Iowa is a put'n'take state.  Plenitude with integrity in natural ecosystems?  Hah.  Hah.  Hah. 
 
--Bill

 
On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 9:06 PM, Carl Kurtz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Bill-if you have read Jim Dinsmore's book A Country So Full of Game, this scenario sounds very familiar.  When there were almost no elk or bison left in the state, whenever someone saw one they went after it and shot it.  I think humans are very immature in their respect for life and living creatures.  I wonder if we will ever get past that part of our nature.  I don't have any answers, but positive experiences with animals and curiosity regarding their general behavior seem to be very important and in general these seem to be missing elements in many individuals lives.  

Carl


On Dec 15, 2009, at 3:18 PM, William Witt wrote:

Pathetic.  Not shooting a mountain lion, per se.  I have no problem with hunters stalking and shooting mountain lions where they are reasonably plentiful and where there are laws and regulations governing the hunters.
 
Pathetic is some doofus discovering a mountain lion snoozing on a branch 50 feet (I seriously doubt the 50 yards claim) away, calling around on his cell phone until he finds out there's no law stopping him, and then blazing away.  Wahoo!  Lookit me, I'm gonna be famous!  Just like the guy who shot the moose a few years ago: "It charged me!  I shot in self defense."  He shot it in self-defense alright--in the side, as it stood grazing 50 yards away in a harvested cornfield.
 
Pathetic is the political cowardice of the Conservation Commission and the DNR staff--for their attitude of total denial that mountain lions are living and hunting in Iowa; for their unwillingness to set any kinds of recognition or protections for the big cats, for bears, moose, wolves and any other rare wild animals that wander across our borders.
 
Pathetic is the way we've spent some millions of dollars to restore river otters to Iowa, only to see the DNR "experts" and Commissioners, for pure political expediency, set trapping limits that let so many animals be taken that in just two years, the populations have plummeted alarmingly...  And yet, I've not heard of any moves to close the season or revisit the regulations.  Otters:  another exotic crop that failed?
 
What's really pathetic is the persistent, short-sighted commodity-crop attitude that rules how we as a State think about our natural lands, the plant communities and the animals, birds, and fish that live on and in them.  (And just forget about amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates.)   Ecological complexity, interdependence, stability, integrity, sustainability--plenitude--mean nothing if they don't generate dollars. 
 
Likewise, it's pathetic how any voicing of science and long-term wisdom is quickly shushed.  Or shouted down.  Who at DNR could dare say publicly, "Yup, we've got mountain lions in Iowa.  That's because we've got more forest cover for them to hide in, and because we've got a half-million deer for them to feast on.  And we're gonna have more of them.  They eat deer, not cattle, not housecats, so everybody calm down." 
 
Nobody, at least as far as I've heard, can even speak up and try to educate against the ignorant prejudice that river otters rob fishermen of the best fish in the rivers.  I have heard trappers say that they like to catch and kill young otters, never reporting it, because they don't want them growing up and competing for the good fish. 
 
Pathetic.
 
 
 
 
 


 
On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 1:08 PM, joe <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
http://gazetteonline.com/breaking-news/2009/12/15/cedar-rapids-man-shoots-mountain-lion-in-iowa-county




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