Posted by:
regalringneck
at Mon Mar 1 21:35:32 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by regalringneck ]
Bubba, firstly I have to wonder if every outfit has @ least one person nicknamed Bubba in it???
Heres the point I was trying to make... & thus metaphor about the darkness; Its the "process of protection" that becomes perverted via the blatant insertion of other agendas. The light is the metaphor reference the altruistic desire [tho protection from sport harvest is generally misguided...] to help wildlife.
This thread is not about Chuckwallas, its about the perversion of the process.
Its about making decisions that effect real people in real time.
Its about the very real liklihood that over time....young dads & moms out spending some time w/ their youngsters who catches a chuckwalla, thinks its fascinating & wants to study it, but instead he or they, wind up learning about the criminal justice system!
Its about institutions that dont encourage, never mind consider, alternative viewpoints, institutions that masquerade personal bias as the "best available science".
Other comments are inserted below in CAPS.
Posted by: BigBrother at Sun Feb 29 23:11:16 2004 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]
John,
I’ve found that the best enforcement guys were often poachers as kids, ya know the old “know thy enemy” routine And we call the “best of the LE lads” you’re talking about “Ego Rangers.” Much to their credit, some of them actually think the label is funny, and your right they do a good job with busting bad guys, sometimes a little too good, but there is no better person to have watching your back! Anyway, it sounds like AZ is much like many of the states I’ve had experience in, where the Wardens do have to wear both hats because of budgetary constraints, which I think leads directly to the criticism many herpers levy at the Wardens, namely that they can’t tell a kingsnake from a ratsnake. What percentage of the wardens you’ve worked with have difficulty identifying/differentiating the native critters (herps or other wise, because I know AZ makes herps a much higher priority than other states do)?
ID SAY OUR WILDLIFE MANAGERS AS A WHOLE ARE LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF WHERE THEY WERE WHEN I STARTED BACK IN 79, NO ONE KNOWS IT ALL... JUST SHOW THEM FEMALE HUMMINGBIRDS AT ~ THE 4000' ELEV TO MAKE THAT POINT!
In AZ where you wear both hats, who is it that changed the law on the collection of chucks in the Park if not you?
I BELIEVE THE PARK [CITY] APPROACHED THE DEPT, WHICH OF COURSE WAS ALL TOO WILLING TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT CREATING ANOTHER LAW....AFTER A RANGER FOUND A BAG OR 2 W/ SOME 60 CHUCKS IN THEM; ALREADY MINDYOU THIS WAS ALREADY AN EXCESS BAGLIMIT CRIME...BUT HEY ANOTHER LAW NEVER HURTS...CAN IT?
I WAS ONE WHO SUGGESTED THAT IF THE COLLECTORS COULD NAB 60, THERE MUST BE A TREMENDOUS POPULATION OF CHUCKS IN THAT AREA TO BEGIN WITH & MIGHT THAT CONCEPT GET A MOMENTS THOUGHT.
It has been a few years since I have spent any time in AZ, and I don’t remember ever having been to the park you’re talking about, so I’m going to have to bow to your knowledge on this. However, as a general rule I think you will have to agree that development, agriculture and other forms of environmental destruction are fragmenting the habitat for many species in North America. The result is a loss of “metapopulation structure”, and thus an increase in extinction probability for all the usual reasons. That’s where I was going with my questions anyway, but it seems from what you and Chris are saying, the park habitat is already naturally isolated and there is no development going on in the area, and you seem to imply that there has not been any development in the area for the last 200 years. Now my curiosity is peaked as to how the chucks got to such an isolated habitat.
I THINK THIS FRAGMENTED META-POPS CONCEPT IS AN IMPORTANT PARAMETER IN MANY TAXONS. IN HERPS; I DONT THINK THE DATA SUPPORTS IT AS NEARLY SUCH AN ISSUE; NUMEROUS WILD HERP POPS. ARE COMPARATIVELY HOMOGENEOUS [LOOK @ THE PARTHNOGENIC WHIPTAILS], HOME RANGES ARE MUCH SMALLER, DENSITIES ARE GENERALLY CORRESPONDINGLY HIGHER. NEVERTHELESS FRAGMENTED SIZEABLE POPS STILL PRODUCE A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTAL CYCLE SURPLUS THAT CAN IN MOST CASES WILL EASILY SUSTAIN THE TYPICALLY INCONSEQUENTIAL SPORT HARVEST.
So my next question is, do you think your Park is a “typical” case, or do you think it is unusual in AZ?
ITS ATYPICAL...BUT NOT FOR REASONS YOU LIKELY THINK....MOST OF AZ LIKE MOST OF THE WEST....IS COW-NUKED; THIS INCREDIBLY STUPID MNGMT PRACTICE IS OF COURSE....LEGAL... & BY FAR... ACCOUNTS FOR THE LARGEST IMPACTS TO OUR WLDLF POPS. BUT YA-TAH-HEY...LETS GET A GRIP HERE....FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS....& GO SNAG THAT BONEHEAD W/ A SNAKEHOOK & PILLOWCASE!!!
Take it easy....: GOOD ADVICE, ITS AN EVERYDAY STRUGGLE...BUT IM SLOWLY GETTING THERE 
Cheers, jg
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& in the end there was darkness....piercing the light... - regalringneck, Mon Mar 1 21:35:32 2004