Article John Cox, Cascade Mountains
Hunting and trapping has caused the absolute extinction of 22% of mammals. Trophy hunters, or those from the Safari Club and other clubs and organizations where ignorance is the rule rather than the exception, and more ironic those who actually log their ignorance, is responsible for 12% absolute mammal extinction within the past 20 years.
Now we add government ignorance, bad science combined with bad-decision making, we add with this corporate placement into our Public Lands, and we are speaking non-accumulative (i.e. without sports / wildlife management paradigms) another 18% absolute extinction of mammals within the United States boundaries. This estimate as of today!
In total, our government and these hunters, government employees, etc., and their Management by Kill paradigms, want the public to believe this 52% absolute animal extinction rate quantifiable by attrition. It is not!
Good Science
Good Science is based on ethical and well defined approach and process, observation, and gathering honest and cohesive statistical data. Also in the realm of good research, the biologist or research scientist must understand such items as “concept of chance” and the “significance of probability” in the statistical sense.
Why I mention this? Today there is an ongoing debate? Well, we cannot not really be calling it a debate as much as pointing out the crude non-scientific data, or questionable politically driven data, that is being accepted as good science by our current government agencies. The big problem is this — the supposed good science is not science what so ever, and decisions based on this political agenda item of science is worthless.
Yes, bad science destroys our environment, our natural biosphere, and our wildlife. To reference this simply look around the countryside — look at our climate change, our polar ice caps, our devastation of forests, our wildlife becoming extinct or endangered at much faster rates than even a couple of decades ago. Then look at ourselves, and who it is we place into political office to make such critical decisions!
If you dislike what you see, what you hear happening to our wildlife and our environment, then include that with the dishonest political arena of today, then do something about it!
So it can come down to this — good research equates to good statistical data, that cannot be manipulated. This data, or “accumulative statistics” if you will and upon evaluation, potentially determines a refined decision making process. A correct evaluation process generates better environment for wildlife and people alike. This is change! And it is very possible if done.
C. S. Hume, in “Man and Beast” talks about unplanned or poorly planned experiments, “So long as the worst that can happen is that large quantities of expensive chemicals are poured down the drain, nobody need worry except the man who pays for the chemicals. . . in experiments on animals ethical requirements demand even more strongly than does scientific virtuosity, that an experimenter should not be content with pedestrian empiricism but should plan his experiments in the light of a great deal of preliminary hard thinking.”
The Truth
When we take a look at the Wolf, or the Wild Horse Herds, we find decades of prejudice, of unsubstantiated information, not of scientific origin, in the decision to roundup or kill these magnificent animals. Yes, political agendas apparently and obviously brought about by ignorance, still serve as the preponderance decision making agenda of today as well, and for both. Sadly!
Advancement of society equating to attrition? No, that is impossible because attritional values are not predicated on opinion or prejudicial ignorance! The fact is, even attrition is presented as a value percentage of uncontrollable circumstance predicated on truthful and logical decisions, based on good science or good data / information. Good Perceptions equate to good Science and a new attritional value directly involving our environment and wildlife! A positive value for all, society and wildlife alike. This is simply not accomplished by our government or politicians today!
WOLVES
The Wolves, for example, provide benefits to heavily forested or mountain environments, and for several logical and good scientific reasons. This becomes neglected, and a preponderance of ignorance (check the references for current decisions on wolf hunts and see for yourself) becomes acceptable, currently in our society. Yes, obviously we need leaders, not proponents of ignorance and scattered slip-shod bigotry.
WILD HORSE HERDS
The Wild Horses the same as Wolves. They provide benefits to wild range lands and Public Lands within a natural perspective and attrition value. Current range management paradigms for Wild Horse Herd Management is simply based on paradigms of estimation, guess work, skewed percentages, and erroneous horse count collection.
The ignorance and bigotry, favoring corporations and cattle — both detrimental to America’s Public Lands, generate the supposed science the Wild Horse Herd Roundups predicated upon. The government skewed and erroneous numbers present an unacceptable attrition value for the existence of Wild Horse Herds on our Public Lands. The bad science, or bad statistical data, is then attributable to attrition, and it is the attrition value (the false premise and excuse for the horse roundups, which by the way costing taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars spent) that generates the fictitious numbers for Wild Horse Herd Roundups.
This ignorant behavior, or what some call “BLM Speak” and what most of us call “Decisions Based on Bad Science” popular in our government today, due to bad leadership not only in our government, but in the political arena as well. Incumbent’s Out is the words that echo through America now, because American’s are sick and tired of such blatantly ignorant decisions being made on our environment and our wildlife — and being so costly, with government employees being so arrogant and careless with American’s taxpayer dollars!
Conclusion
As long as we have unacceptable leadership, ignorant research accepted from Bad Science, that presents management decisions about our environment and wildlife, we have a major problem here in America.
Right now we in America have a choice, before these narrow decisions made from political agendas and outright ignorance destroys Our America, the People that Actually Own America — Not of corporations or government agencies — To Vote For People That Care About Our Environment And Our Wildlife, and our tax dollars! Remove All others who are hateful, ignorant, and not of Leadership Quality!
“Change can and will happen, when things so bad that change is the only road left to travel.” — John Cox, Animal Advocate
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Hume, C.W. Man and Beast. Second Edition, 1982. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, 8 Hamilton Close, South Mimms, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire.
Lodka, A.D., 1956. Elements of Mathematical Biology, Dover Publications, N.Y.
Abramovitz, A.M. 1970. Probability Theory, C.V. Mosby, Co., St. Louis.
H.R.H. Prince Philip, and James Fisher. 1970. Wildlife Crisis, Cowels Book Co., Inc. N.Y.
IUCN, 1980. World Conservation Strategy, Living resources conservation for sustainable development, Gland, Switzerland.
Davis, George M. 1977. Rare and Endangered Species: a dilemma, Frontiers, Vol (4): 12-14.
Et al…