Re: FW: NANFA-- Olympic Mudminnows???

Klaus Schoening (sege7_at_earthlink.net)
Fri, 26 Nov 1999 16:51:32 -0800

I think you have to separate the individuals who are working to protect our fish
from the legislators who see endangered species as a way of appropriating money to
live from and share in, lets face it endangered species are big bucks. Sure there
are lots of people who work hard to protect native habitats, just as there are
those who want to split hairs in applying regulations meant to maintain the
precarious habitats of some of our rarer fish. There is a money trail both in the
making sure something remains endangered as there is in enforcement of regulations
that have run amuck of the intended ideal. For every bald eagle that makes it off
the list there are many more that never will because the varied interests all too
often work at cross purposes. EG most of the Cyprinodons are remarkably easy to
breed and maintain in captivity, yet a highly restricted couple of refuges held
very tightly in the hands of a few, make sure there will never be an overabundance
of these fish and forever endangered and there for eminently marketable as
endangered species.

Shireen Gonzaga wrote:

> someone said:
> > These laws apply to all wildlife in
> > the state. No one ever said that nongame fish specifically could
> never
> > be removed from the state. But they got lumped in with bighorn sheep
> > and bald eagles and such, and the laws have stayed on the books for
> years.
> > The people at WDFW are not open to discussion on it. Or rather, the
> > people who are sympathetic don't have any clout. Hopefully with time
> > things will change.
>
> someone else said:
> > Maybe the only way to get things changed is for native fish
> enthusiasts
> > to join forces with reptile hobbyists, aviculturalisats and others to
> promote
> > legislative changes and simply go over the heads of the wildlife
> people if
> > they are not open to discussion. Unless we now live in a totalitarian
> state,
> > these agencies must still comply with the rulings of an elected
> legislature.
>
> These wildlife agencies are not made of arrogant dolts who routinely
> defy
> common sense. State and federal wildlife agencies, along with all
> agencies
> that produce intangible long-term benefits, are chronically underfunded
> and
> politically under-represented. So if they have policies that don't make
> sense...
> well, that makes sense.
>
> Almost everytime these government and state agencies are mentioned on
> this list, it always seems to be in bash mode. I guess few notice the
> good
> works they do. Having volunteered at a wildlife refuge, and having had a
>
> chance to follow some mid-Atlantic states trying to work together on a
> particular fisheries issue, I've come away feeling sympathetic towards
> these agencies. Sure, there are some bizarre regulations out there, and
> some
> of these folks don't have the best of people skills. So they piss you
> off.
> But look at the big picture. On the whole, they're doing pretty good.
>
> By all means, *do* lobby your legislators. But when doing so, don't
> forget to praise the good work that has already been done by these
> agencies.
> They need our support as well as our criticism.
>
> - shireen
>
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/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org