At 11:27 PM 5/20/01 -0700 Doug Pensinger wrote:
>Where did the number three come from? I'm pretty sure "community of
>arctic/subarctic ecosystems" doesn't mean two ecosystems if that's where
>you're coming from.
Come on, *think* people. The entirety of the ANWR is located North of the
Arctic Circle. Exactly how many ecosystems do you expect are up there?
Personally, I think that its rather generous of them to give the ANWR
credit for the sub-arctic ecosystem (since they are, by definition, within
the Arctic Circle - and presumably arctic). The ANWR is located in one of
the most inhospitable land environments on Earth - second only to
Antarctica and lava flows. Comparisons with the biological diversity of
the Serengeti are simply absurd - the Serengeti contains thousands of
species, many of them endangered, including an amazing array of large
mammals in abundance - and is a tremendous disservice to efforts to protect
the Serengeti. By the same token, claims to be the superior example of
habitat diversity among the entire US System of National Parks, National
Forests, and National Wildlife Refuges (to say nothing about the National
Parks and other areas of Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, etc.) are similiraly
beyond the pale of explanation.
If you really want me to start citing examples of diverse habitats in North
American National Parks, I will - but I'd rather not expend the effort to
prove the self-evident, unless I really have to.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"The point of living in a Republic after all, is that we do not live by
majority rule. We live by laws and a variety of institutions designed
to check each other." -Andrew Sullivan 01/29/01
