Good Day NANFAns
Which in a way is a cute twist of irony because being listed as
officially extinct has eliminated the bureaucratic red tape that for the
most part prevents private individuals from being involved with an
endangered species.
In reference to a previous thread regarding Bison - it's terrible that
we almost wiped that species off the face of the Earth, but also
fortunate that when private individuals started to put together herds -
they were not hindered by all the likes of today's establishments who
virtually wage war against the very idea of privatization when it comes
to protected species. Bison are not likely to regain their former
abundance or genetic diversity but at least they are reasonably secure.
Same for American Alligators - which now legal to buy - depending on
your state and local laws regarding dangerous animals - and whole host
of charismatic megafauna - Elephants, Rhinos etc in South Africa - where
conservation had to be privatized because the post-aparthied govt had
shunted most of the resources toward social programs.
The situation in South Africa is especially interesting because decades
ago blacks were forcefully removed from tribal homelands to create parks
and wildlife refuges - now these people are clamoring to get their lands
back. There is hope that the parks that were created by stealing tribal
homelands can be given back to their rightful owners and they can be
educated to manage them and benefit from the sound and profitable
management of the wildlife which is on its way to becoming a very
profitable enterprise. land owners are getting rid of their cattle and
converting their ranches over to game preserves!
Meanwhile in other countries that have resisted privatization - poaching
remains big business.
Now if it is possible to do this with big game animals - then saving a
cute little pupfish or Topminnow or Madtom ought to be a whole lot
easier. This may be political incorrectness, but it looks awfully silly
to have a hissy fit over the idea of allowing private citizens to
commercially propagate and distribute a little fish whose entire
population resides in a single tributary or spring the size of a
swimming pool!
Food for radical though-
As the infamous Rush himself said in his book "The Way Things Ought to
Be": The way to save endangered species is to give someone a stake in
perserving them. By allowing legitimate ranches (in our case breeders)
to privatize them, we can make sure others don't pulverize them."
Jeff : a Wanted Fan- if you've ever read "Fallen Angels" (Baen 1991) by
Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven & Michael Flynn you will have an idea what
that means!
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