More proof that educated doesn't mean smart

Moscow Pullman Daily News 2/13/07

By Chuck Pezeshki

HIS VIEW: Why is Butch afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

The latest scandal coming out of Idaho, ecologically speaking, is Butch Otter’s publicly displayed bloodlust for shooting endangered wolves in Idaho. With such public pronouncements, he is putting undue pressure on the agency to de-list the wolf from the Endangered Species Act, and the protections it provides. Promising to shoot the first wolf himself, Otter has set up Idaho Fish and Game for bad decision-making and a botched process.
For Otter, facts are what he wants them to be — and the biggest fact that they seem to be obsessed with is that wolves eat elk.
Wolves do eat elk, of course. They usually kill the weak, keeping sickness down in elk herds. They serve a keystone ecosystem role by keeping elk from trampling meadows and streamside vegetation. This helps a variety of other species, from rare streamside birds to beavers. When wolves move into an area, they typically will wipe out the coyote population, which also is good for lots of smaller critters that the coyotes like to eat. And uneaten wolf kills provide the backbone of diet for rare pine martens, fishers and wolverines — scavenger carnivore species that are all headed down the extinction tunnel in the Northern Rockies.
Theoretically, all this information should be making it to Otter’s desk, from the Office of species conservation, headed by Jim Caswell. You’d think that someone in charge of species conservation might be interested in conserving species. And by looking at the list of species that benefit from wolves’ interaction in the ecosystem, you’d think that Jim would be pro-wolf. But Jim has a checkered past. As past forest supervisor of the Clearwater and Targhee National Forests, he helped create lots of checkerboard. As the forest supervisor of the Targhee NF, he had the dubious honor of helping create a mosaic of clearcuts on the border of Yellowstone National Park that could be seen from space. And as someone intensely familiar with the Clearwater NF, you’d think he’d spill the beans on the biggest reason for elk number decline in the northern part of the state — the massive elk die-off that occurred in the winter of 1996 due to a freakish combination of rain and snow events.
But facts and “truthiness” don’t make much difference to Otter. He’s pandering to his base, whose members have declared that they are indeed afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. Otter isn’t going to change his mind based on any ecological consideration.
But he might do some real thinking about how Idaho looks to the rest of the United States and the world. Because how Idaho looks means real tourist dollars. And not just to people who want to see wolves, of course, but more pedestrian folk who don’t want to spend their money in a place run by someone who sanctions killing wolves or clearcutting our remaining forests. Butch might learn a lesson from Utah Gov. Jim Huntsman, who only two weeks ago pulled a huge U-turn on his plan to release Utah’s roadless lands to the clearcutters, miners and energy drillers. The Outdoor Industry Association threatened to pull the plug on its hugely lucrative trade show in Salt Lake City. And Huntsman, looking at a huge blow to an industry that contributes $7 billion to the state, backed down big-time.
Think tourism doesn’t matter to Idaho? According to the Department of Idaho Commerce and Labor, one out of nine jobs in the state is directly associated with travel and tourism. In 2004, the industry contributed $2.1 billion to the gross domestic product of the state. And suffice it to say that folks aren’t traveling to the Gem State to see the suburbs in Boise.
Can anyone whisper “boycott” in Otter’s ears? It could happen if he keeps up his shenanigans about shooting the first wolf, or keeping his pledge to annihilate the wolf population. His base might hear that. Republicans are supposed to be all about business and money. Will Butch wake up before he kills off one of the most magnificent animals in the wild, and costs the state a ton of greenbacks? It’s time to let our state legislators know how we feel — because what Butch is going to end up killing is the economy.

Chuck Pezeshki is a professor in mechanical and materials engineering at Washington State University.

Hey, Chuck. Get a clue. Rational people who understand how the food chain works don't want to encounter wolves in the wild. Rather than rehash things, see my previous post on this subject. Go back to your lab and quit showing your ignorance.

Who's ignorant now?

From the 1/20/07 Moscow Pullman Daily News
Iverson’s ignorance strikes again

Once again I find myself writing a letter in response to something ignorant said by Ed Iverson (Opinion, Jan. 13 & 14). And once again I am confounded by the fact that you give him a column in the first place. There are many fine conservative right-wing people in this town who, while I may disagree with their beliefs, their facts would be straight and it wouldn’t be an advertising column for the hate-filled evangelical right.

This week he has the audacity to call Islam violent and merciless. Did he miss the inquisition? How about the crusades? How about all the hate-filled pedophile clergyman? How about the slaughter of the American Indians in this country? Even Hitler’s atrocities can be traced back to evangelical Christianity. Now, I am not saying that all Christians are filled with hate. I am saying the blanket assessment that Islam harbors merciless, violent barbarianism is just more if his ignorant rhetoric.

Then he goes on to give us the must-read list for the religious right. Why don’t you just print his op-ed piece on the religion page where it belongs, or better yet in some Christian church’s newsletter?

Donal Wilkinson, Moscow

Mr. Wilkinson,
Without addressing Mr. Iverson's viewpoints, I submit that your points regarding religious and political abuses of the past are precisely the reason America and every free nation on earth must work dilligently to either expunge Islam from the planet or force it to reform its ways. You rightly point out that other groups have used religion as a shield for contemptable acts in the past. While that is so, it does NOT excuse Islam's bad actors in this era. If anything, the lessons of those past acts should point the way to what must occur before Islam can be accepted into society.

In its current form, Islam is a threat to modern civilization. Unless and until its rank and file members stand united against and defeat the violent activist elements among them, it is a blight on mankind. Its members must find a way to reform the errant ways of those who exercise unrighteous power or the organism must perish. In this, it is no different that the abusive religous of the past.

I find it disquieting that you freely express such ill considered opinions and bolster the cause of those who would do us harm. You obviously have a very weak grasp of history and human nature. Should this message find its way to you, I stand ready and offer a challenge to debate these points.

Happy New Year

Here's to a happy and health new year!

My top ten things to do in 2007

10. Have various failing body parts repaired by my orthopedic surgeon
9. Prune fruit trees and vines to increase productivity
8. Attend more city and county council meetings
7. Get apple/plum brandy ready for rafting season
6. Challenge more statements by local "experts" who are blocking progress
5. Make venison sausage
4. Push my employer to inprove its business and environmental performance
3. Plague our children with visits to see new grandkids
2. Drink at least one beer at local breweries in Berlin, Pilzen and Budejovice
1. Finish kitchen construction