Stupid Conservation Ideas from conservation minded folks:

I have worked on multiple EIRs and EISs where wetland ecosystems were eliminated for some sort of development. The "preferred" mitigation, just to get the development approved was to create another wetland.

This is absurd as the "created" wetland does not necessary conform to topography or have a natural and sustainable source of water.

 

Conservation is great, but lets not forget that tree's are renewable and it is much more important to replant, regrow, restore, then recut and do it all over again, then it is to restrict where they cut. It is a natural cycle just like farming.

 

To put this into perspective, does anyone know what percentage of the world's population uses toilet paper? 10%? 25%? 50%?

And no, logging is not quite like farming. The crop takes about 200 years to fully mature, and harvesting anything but trees doesn't tend to permanently alter the local climate. Why don't we use hemp for paper? It's a stronger fibre, matures in 90 days, and is naturally resistant to most pests and diseases.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Apr 27 2007, 06:42 PM) [snapback]431392[/snapback]</div>

An area that has been logged lets say in VA or NC is ready to be logged again after about 15 years.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(morpheusx @ Apr 27 2007, 06:58 PM) [snapback]431447[/snapback]</div>

Yeah and an area like that has very little in the way of biodiversity and intact ecological systems. They suffer from nearly every malady that comes with intense monoculture agriculture. It is a monoculture plain and simple. I implore you to take some environmental science and ecology classes. One of my professors worked for the Forest Service for 14yrs before becoming an ecology professor so we get to hear all of the good and bad with the Forest Service (tree farmers). My main mentor worked for Parks and Rec for 21yrs before becoming a botony professor and I've been all over California examining our Sierra Nevada forests and as far south as Patagonia. I'm do not have my degree yet but it doesn't take long before you learn to recognize healthy ecosystems and landtracts used for agriculture and the rediculous claims made by those who justify such actions, as false.

Skruse is right. Mitigated wetlands are a far cry from the orignal wetlands they replace. I witness this all the time in my field study classes and I plan to make the follow-up analysis on these mitigation sites my thesis.

 

When I first read this, the first thing I thought was, "Damn Rove is quick!"

 

I wish someone would hurry up and develop that thing with the two sea shells that is used in the future in the movie Demolition Man. Interresting thing about that movie, The first time I saw is, all restaeraunts in the future were Pizza Huts. I got into a discussion with someone else who insisted all restaeraunts were Taco Bells. As it turned out, I had seen the movie in my hotel room in Taiwan, and since they don't have any Taco Bells in Taiwan, they released an alternate version with Pizza Huts.

I would really like to just sit and relaz while the toilet cleans me with water jets that could also flush the toilet so no more water would be waisted.