“Not only are we connected to everything, we are all a part of everything, the past, the present, and the future . . . The Universe does this, to teach us right from wrong – so why are we ignoring the lessons from the Universe?” – John Cox, Writer/Photographer
Our government agencies meant to manage our nations Wildlife are not fulfilling their obligation, or their responsibility to garner, then protect these animals, and manage them in an appropriate manner. The non-profits, stating they also protect animals and our nation’s wildlife as well, also are to the point we should require labels of donators, so we can see for ourselves the non-profits priorities, and their special interests, other than what we attempt to understand, for them to tell us truthfully who it is they represent.
There currently exists a tremendous problem, as 50% to 60% of our wildlife is disappearing. Why should we be concerned? Because there is no sign what so ever of competence, either in the government agency management realm, or the non-profits who are paid in the thousands upon thousands of dollars in donations, who apparently are just as incompetent most often, or just do not know how to manage our wildlife appropriately.
- Wolves are being slaughtered due to profound arrogance combined with a sick style of ignorance – at taxpayer expense, and inevitable destruction of forests and mountain environments due to their lack of future presence – all at taxpayer expense for refurbishment ;
- Wild Horses being rounded up, then they disappear off the range, eventually to wind up in a kill-pin — then to slaughter. This all due to an evil arrogance and a sick intolerable ignorance, at taxpayer expense – all of it – and money at the root of a totally incompetent and profound situation, that in reality, simply does not need to happen what so ever – i.e. roundups of horses off Public Lands, when indeed there is not only room for growth, but enhances our environment while they remain – much more to this problem;
- Cougar’s and those who profoundly paid to manage them, sending them to their death while issuing more permits to kill them – their counts based on false presentation of fact, and simply bad science and bad counts, so essentially due to a profound arrogance combined with a sick ignorant mind set – again environmental destruction up and coming, too many browsers – refurbishment all at taxpayers expense – all of it and for their mismanagement of taxpayer money as well;
- Bear seasons made longer, more permits to kill them cheaper and easier to obtain, but as the others above certainly based on bad science and profound arrogance combined with a sad and very ignorant mind set from government agencies – out of control browsers and destruction of woodlands, forests and meadows – refurbishment all at taxpayers expense — .
Nature and Wildlife Extinction Crisis
Nature provides us with many things. These natural forms of life are not only all connected to us, but will cohabitate with us, that is, if we allowed them to. Humans endorse a constant lack of understanding with the term cohabitate; thereby, humane (yet another misunderstood term by humans) standards of planetary-existence are the problem here – ironically, the cure as well.
Nature provides us all with proper food, pure water and clean air. Right now our planet faces a crisis. We have lost 50% of the wildlife within this world we supposedly share it with. But due to our consumptive greed and odd paradigms to manage things, we do not really understand – many refuse to share; many refuse to only take what is needed and leave the rest, and many assume it proper to control wildlife and often even people (war et al.) populations by a kill-paradigm. What is going on in Our World today
The situation in capsule form: The more we kill wildlife, the more we must create a sustainable crop of the Earth’s own nutritional-elements for life, and the supportive ecology within each environment; but we cannot match nature and it’s unique paradigm of all things being connected, so we have a problem here – i.e. a healthy animal-plant-water-land mass situation becomes less, then lesser yet until total devastation inevitable.
We, the supposed Stewarts of our Lands and animals, either ignore this situation in total, or a larger percent of the time do such a poor job at the attempts to replace nature, that the outcome obvious . . .
In truth, these crucial elements are disappearing – the ecological situations being destroyed, even our long term existence, is becoming very questionable . . . but the more we center our mind-sets on particular items such as beef, sheep, hunting trophies’, etc., in order to subsist on this planet, and only those elements of commercial value toward high profit base / margins (cattle, et al), simply leads to the destruction of not only land, but a tremendous amounts of wildlife and ecological systems.
The fact is we are killing and consuming, or just outright killing to manage, the things that can sustain us very well, and has done so over the centuries.
We notice how things are connected, and understand them better, but ironically by those same things being destroyed; we also notice the ironic combination with antiquated regulations and laws for oversight, that simply no longer work within this social-commercial environment of today, and only kept due to profits, with no real science to support them at all. It is respect, consideration, and cohabitation that must be a priority right now – arrogantly, these situations overlooked entirely for short term profits.
The Living Planet Index
The steep decline of animal, fish, and bird numbers was calculated by analyzing 10,000 different populations, covering 3,000 species in total. The data was then, for the first time, used to create a representative “Living Planet Index” (LPL), reflecting the state of all 45,000 known vertebrates.
These are also the indicator, (i.e. more useful than the FTSE 100 index previously used), which monitored the overuse of our resources. This is to say simply, to observe and manage properly the things we are losing currently, or lost, is now more precise. Then to observe, by good science, the temporary replacement items, (e.g. the cattle industry that is bullying forcibly its way into domination of our lands) or other situations that when more contribute negatively, more destruction develops over all. So we are also discovering the overabundance of the “wrong elements” just as devastating and destructive as improper management of our wildlife, especially on a world-wide basis. So here we are, our connection to all else on this planet, our planet, being torn and ripped to shreds, in the name of corporate integrity.
We are currently, within a second Index within the LPL, leaving an extremely destructive imprint ecologically. Currently, the global population is cutting down trees faster than growth can produce more, catching fish faster than the oceans fisheries can replenish and then restock, pumping water from rivers and aquifers faster than rainfall and watersheds can replenish them, and emitting more climate-warming carbon (cattle among other pollutants) dioxide, than the oceans and forests can absorb.
Let’s put this in easier terms – Today’s global rate of consumption would require, for example, four Planet-Earths to sustain U.S. levels of consumption, or 2.5 Earths to match the United Kingdom’s consumption currently.
Mountains, Wild Horses, and What I See
There exist many factors, both corrupt and ethically questionable, that have developed over the decades to get our wildlife and environment systems to this point.
- Politicians simply operate and are attentive to special-interests, our wildlife and environment ignored;
- Non-profits and their ever increasing competitive rolls in animal welfare and misinterpreting facts due to lack of knowledge, simply increases their priority for generating streams of monetary donations, rather than resolve issues (many simply just give the perception of their involvement, requiring much less time and far cheaper) is a current problem, their quick-fix attitude indeed makes the problems worse;
- Misinformed applications and bad science from corporations and businesses competing for government and private contracts generates more confusion and the truthfulness toward our environment as a whole entity, and the list goes on and on;
- Government agencies, e.g. the Bureau of Land Management, develop their priorities around 1% of the cattle industry (G.A.O. figures show much less than 1% in sales(even though taxpayers pay, in the billions, to support these Public Lands Grazing Permit holders, but this is ignored by the BLM in total), the oil industry and the mining (who sill owe the taxpayers, G.A.O. reference estimates $610 Billion dollars over the past 20 years, and who knows how much devastation of environments and wildlife, as it has all been covered-up) industry – while doing so develop resolutions toward facts that are outright lies, misinformation, and cover-up criminal conduct most often, and taxpayer’s pay the price for the complex no-resolution developed due to such narrow-scoped activities – and our nations environment as well as our nations wildlife suffer exponentially from these poor and extremely bad decisions based on falsehoods;
- The situation of the Wild Horses, the politics, the misrepresentation of facts and science by both government\non-profits, the hedging into place millions of dollars in grants to misinterpret the information quite often, and the overall demeanor of criminal activity.
Resolution by True Conservation
Conservationism! What an interesting, and recently I find, a debatable subject. So I stick my finger in the air, I get waves of the scent of manure streaming by, and I realize the hunter and trophy hunters refer to themselves as conservationists.
Well, the problem with that is, it is the problem, and without more elaborate definition here, we find many problems with this outreach and new meaning of conservation. But the problems are not only with their facts, but their perception, their misinformation and misinterpretation of science, and the refusal by many of these hunters and trophy hunters define their definitive rolls they supposedly play in our environment.
It is simply based upon the difference between good and bad science, altered science, and subjectively swayed science – or politically driven by special interests – yes, political agendas . . . Suddenly as if magic (built on a lie actually) conservation becomes a misinformed and misinterpreted collusion of management principles of killing animals, or trophy-gathering of all types, rather, than manage them in an appropriate ideology or paradigm. “The truth is often buried in a quagmire of misinformation, short term profits, and lengthy excuses for wild horse roundups; or, unsubstantiated lies to kill more wolves; or, population-count lies to sell more permits to kill Cougars – and on it goes . . .
By the way, all are and remain totally absurd reasoning. The facts still consistent and well defined and real scientific conservation efforts can, and do often, turn wildlife declines around. Ironically, getting to the reality, or truth of all these significant matters of concern, is the most difficult situation of all; but required to save our world – and ourselves I might add.
Rationally, we can manage conservation methodology in the “outsourcing” and “exportation” of beef and sheep for example, from the United States especially. The fact is cattle and sheep does — and remains directly affecting much of the wildlife decline within many ways in the U.S. So it becomes obvious to many folks, the less export combined with more effort toward reforestation and build-up or inhabit once correct wildlife and vegetation parameters, less cattle or sheep on fragmented lands, and redefine antiquated laws and lands management, and we may experience an upper-swing on the LPL directly involving wildlife and a more positive cohabitate environment . . .
The undeniable fact is there are a lot of changes to be made. The question is and remains, are American’s up for the challenge to a better environment and building up our wildlife and our natural surroundings in a positive manner, or negatively and for profit only — We must decide quickly, as time is running out.
Photojournalist - Journalist 