Hunters help more than hurt.

[Minrott]

Unlike PETA hippies.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/12 ... index.html


Hunters helped save rare bird from extinction

Tuesday, December 13, 2005; Posted: 11:13 a.m. EST (16:13 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A hunting lodge with antler chandeliers and stuffed ducks on the walls seems a strange place to celebrate the comeback of the ivory-billed woodpecker, but wildlife officials are doing exactly that.

They credit hunters in particular with helping bring the rare bird back from presumed extinction in the Big Woods section of Arkansas.

"The people of Arkansas, the hunting and fishing community, conserved these woods," Scott Simon of The Nature Conservancy told reporters on Monday at the Mallard Pointe Lodge, where a coalition of environmentalists, academics and wildlife officials rejoiced in woodpecker's return to the living.

Simon said hunters and others helped save the bird in large part by buying Duck Stamps, at $15 each. These stamps are not for postage, but pay for a federal migratory bird conservation fund, and eventually added up to $41 million to reclaim much of the habitat of the endangered woodpecker.

"The $41 million went into the land before the ivory bill showed up," Simon said.

The ivory-billed woodpecker was believed extinct for the last 60 years, and various reports of sightings of the big bird -- jet black and bright white with a red crest on the male -- were dismissed by professional ornithologists.

Their skepticism was warranted because of the destruction of the big old trees over much of the American southeast that began after the U.S. Civil War. The ivory bill's large size, with a body perhaps 20 inches long means it needs large trees to nest in. It is known to scale the bark off old, dying and dead trees to get at the cigar-sized grubs that live there.

But that was before an amateur naturalist said he saw one while paddling in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in February 2004. When he brought two bird experts to the same spot, they saw it too. And when a professor captured the bird in flight in fuzzy but authentic video, an analysis of all the data pointed to the startling fact that the ivory bill was back.

The ivory bill's public rediscovery last April energized a massive search in eastern Arkansas. Starting in November, teams of paid experts and volunteers have been scouring the Big Woods for signs of the bird.

In this, too, hunters are allies, according to Scott Henderson, director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

"The deer hunter and the duck hunter out there are some of the best eyes and ears we've got," Henderson said. "We have 7,000 hunters in this same area for eight hours at a time or more in some cases."

Good observers are essential to catching a glimpse of the camera-shy ivory bill. So far, some 20,000 hours of searching by dozens of trained observers have failed to spot the bird. But that is understandable, given each woodpecker's presumed 12 mile foraging range. Experts do not know how many ivory-billed woodpeckers might exist in this area.

The total search area in Arkansas takes in 550,000 acres of forest and swamp. Since last year, searchers have covered about 62 square miles.

Henderson acknowledged that hunters were concerned at first that the urge to protect the woodpecker's habitat would limit access to hunting areas, but he said this has not happened.

Game officials want to avoid what Henderson called a "spotted owl situation" -- the clash of interests that occurred in the 1980s between wildlife preservationists and loggers in the U.S. northwest over protecting the small bird.

[Phlegm]

Unlike PETA hippies.

Hunters helped save rare bird from extinction

Simon said hunters and others helped save the bird in large part by buying Duck Stamps, at $15 each. These stamps are not for postage, but pay for a federal migratory bird conservation fund, and eventually added up to $41 million to reclaim much of the habitat of the endangered woodpecker.

"The $41 million went into the land before the ivory bill showed up," Simon said.

It looks like the hunters are acting like "PETA hippies" these days.

[Minrott]

"these days" is the fallacy. 90% of conservation projects are funded and maintained by hunters. The hippies are the loudmouth pony-tailed back packing dousches that whine rather than help.

[kaharthemad]

The difference between a Conservationist and a Enviromentalist is a Conservationist already owns a cabin in the woods ~Dennis Miller

[Tacks]

I don't hate hunters because they kill animals. I hate hunters because they're annoying fucktard rednecks who don't shut up about how they saw this buck and got an erection and then shot it with their 8 thousand dollar rifle. Give the deer some fucking laser beams to fight back with....pussies.

[DangerPaul]

I don't hate hunters because they kill animals. I hate hunters because they're annoying fucktard rednecks who don't shut up about how they saw this buck and got an erection and then shot it with their 8 thousand dollar rifle. Give the deer some fucking laser beams to fight back with....pussies.

lol

[brinstar]

i used to be anti-hunter because i dislike the idea of killing for sport

but then an avid huntist friend of mine explained to me how hunting is usually helpful to the general game population, and how killing them with a rifle is more humane than allowing them to starve from overpopulation

i still don't like hunting, and i'll never intentionally kill an animal, but i no longer begrudge these people of it

unfortunately a lot of them are annoying redneck types

[Gypsiyee]

I never knew any hunters growing up, but when I moved to WI.. well, that was the end of that

I, like Brin, used to hate it until I moved here and found out about the overpopulation.. it's not just a matter of the starvation, the more there are, the more that get struck by cars

I could never kill one, but I can understand that it's not such a bad thing now. I don't know any redneck hunters up here, though - they're all pretty normal.

[Captain Insano]

Is hunting with hand grenades ok? I would be all over that action.

[Adivina]

I dislike the idea of killing for sport and wasting the animal you killed.

However, my uncle and Aryylas' step-father both hunt actively. They both prefer bow/arrow over guns, and both of them actually use the meat from the deers they get. That being said, Aryy's step-father makes some killer jerky from the venison meat thats too gamey for making steaks from.

[Phlegm]

but then an avid huntist friend of mine explained to me how hunting is usually helpful to the general game population, and how killing them with a rifle is more humane than allowing them to starve from overpopulation

Alrighty then, next duck season I am going to borrow my friend's shotgun, head down to the city park near my house, and hunt some ducks at the pond there.

[Kramer]

yeah, it is great, how that works...

1) We move in and raze and pillage the forests, plains, etc.

2) No room for the animals so there need to be population controls

3) Give some asshat a gun and let him hide and pick off animals hanging out in their home

4) The asshats become heroes for sitting around and hiding and killing stuff

Pretty sure the only thing difficult about hunting with a gun is getting up early

Hiding and shooting things isn't hard, ask the snipers of thep ast who have terrorized cities or interstates

[Gypsiyee]

I don't think there are many that waste the meat, Adi.. if you kill a deer and don't like venison, butchers will take it

Now venison that goes kersplat on a minivan.. that's wasted deer~

bb, I think your take on it would be a little different if your primary profession was running your farm and the deer were so hungry they were running over each other to destroy your crops every year. With a gun, if it's a hunter with any skill, the deer won't suffer.. but if starving animals to death is your thing...

[Tuggan]

all ive got to say is if you eat meat of any type, shut the fuck up about hunters killing poor defenseless animals.

[Goose_Man]

all ive got to say is if you eat meat of any type, shut the fuck up about hunters killing poor defenseless animals.

[Gypsiyee]

tugg's right about that too. the meat sold in the store comes from animals that lead a much worse life than those who get to live their time out in the wild

[Zanchief]

I don't have a moral problem with people killing animals for food, I just think it's a little barbaric to do it.

I'd never teach my kids how to kill an animal and skin it and all that stuff, just seems monstrous to me.

[labbats]

Man you people are fags. What's more American than drinking beer and shooting stuff? If I could just light some firecrackers and bottle rockets afterwards it'd be perfecto.

None of my friends hunt, but if I ever get the chance, I'm all for it.

[Goose_Man]

I've hunted a few times but could never get into it. Had a chance to bag me a huge bull elk on my first trip out ever.

I was sitting on top of a hill munching on some jerky then this massive elk walks up on me. Looks at me and just proceeds to munch at the grass about 25 yards from where i was sitting. I rose up my rifle to shoot it but I just couldn’t bring my self to pull the trigger.

Hunting isn’t for everyone that’s for sure. But I do not begrudge people for going.

[Phlegm]

but then an avid huntist friend of mine explained to me how hunting is usually helpful to the general game population, and how killing them with a rifle is more humane than allowing them to starve from overpopulation

Alrighty then, next duck season I am going to borrow my friend's shotgun, head down to the city park near my house, and hunt some ducks at the pond there.

yeah, it is great, how that works...

1) We move in and raze and pillage the forests, plains, etc.

2) No room for the animals so there need to be population controls

3) Give some asshat a gun and let him hide and pick off animals hanging out in their home

4) The asshats become heroes for sitting around and hiding and killing stuff

Pretty sure the only thing difficult about hunting with a gun is getting up early

Hiding and shooting things isn't hard, ask the snipers of thep ast who have terrorized cities or interstates

At the park near my house, you dont have to hide or anything. Just go there with a few crackers and the ducks just come and eat it right out of your hand. Easy picking.

[Ouchyfish]

Man you people are fags. What's more American than drinking beer and shooting stuff? If I could just light some firecrackers and bottle rockets afterwards it'd be perfecto.

None of my friends hunt, but if I ever get the chance, I'm all for it.

[Aatrex]

I'd never teach my kids how to kill an animal and skin it and all that stuff, just seems monstrous to me.

Cool, just tell them that dinner came from the meat fairy.