Madhusudan/Ecolog:
Your blog is right up my alley, if you will pardon the idiom. First,
Reconciliation Ecology is my idea of a universal principle. Speaking of
Greater Sage Grousing, I got mixed up with your signature bird, the
California condor at about this stage of things some time ago (Tyson, 1986,
1986a). I had a contract with Audubon at the time, and the contract was
cancelled. As an Audubon member at the time, I received a lot of mailings
containing a lot of disinformation.
I am, and was, acutely aware of the problems that removal of the last wild
birds from the wild for a captive-breeding program would cause, so believe
me, it was with a heavy heart that I wrote the referenced pieces. Having had
the "leave them alone" tendency at the time, I had to suspend my judgment
and spend a solid month (and more) researching and interviewing before I
changed my mind and saw that they were headed for extinction if left in the
wild. I became persona non grata to a lot of friends and colleagues in
addition to spending and losing a huge (to me) amount of money. This only
added to a lot of gossip caused by my daring to speak off-message about
other things and got me onto a lot of s- and enemies-lists-on both "sides"
of the issues.
In some ways, this Grouse issue is "déjà vu all over again." There are no
doubt significant differences as well as similarities with the two cases. I
worry whether or not the "keystone species" argument will hold up and
whether or not its use could undermine credibility overall. I worry that
hired biostitutes and grantsuckers might pad some overweight "studies" that
might at once satisfy "the numbers" but lead to further degradation of
habitat. I worry that failing to reconcile the two opposing values might
also lead to further degradation of habitat. (For example, modern drilling
technology permits fewer actual drilling sites, so IF lateral drilling IS
and option, and IF the sites can be located such that grouse habitat is not
critically damaged or fragmented, MAYBE a TRUE reconciliation can be found.
Both "sides" are gunshy of this, however. Maybe that's what Audubon is
trying to do; maybe not.
But the two cases and sides do seem to have one thing in common at present-a
combination of taboos and smoke-screens. I think the double-talk may have a
well-intentioned motive at its core: the need for saving face. Some may feel
the need to do this as a "transitional" step in a longer process; I'm not
sure whether this is delusional "whistling past the graveyard" or not, but I
suspect the former.
There may be a substitute for full honesty, but honestly, I haven't seen a
single case where bs has ultimately paid off. Demagoguery is an easy habit
to slip into, even with the best of intentions. Lying is a slippery slope,
especially if it starts out with barely perceptible fibs. Does taking the
High Road still work, or is it culturally passe? Will setting an example
still work, or is knee-jerk polarization so ossified into the US culture
that it can't be broken and reset?
It's like the old story about the camel's nose in the tent or boiling a
frog-once one lets the bs begin, it takes over and honesty loses. It's hell
to back that camel out of the tent.
So the ecology/policy question is, "Do "grousers" take a firm stand or hope
for a half a loaf? That seem to me to be the first question-and while I have
a distinct bias, I'm not at all sure it's "practical." And, I'm not sure a
policy of "temporary" appeasement is practical either. I hope someone else
can find some sweet spot that is neither fishy nor foul . . .
WT
Tyson, W B, 1986. The Only Hope for the Condors? San Francisco Chronicle,
January 16, 1986.
Tyson, W B, 1986a. "The Last Days of the Condor? New York Times (National
Edition), February 8, 1986.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Madhusudan Katti" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 5:46 PM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] In which energy development is more endangered than the
Greater Sage Grouse
My thoughts on today's USFWS ruling that the Greater Sage Grouse is
deserving of protection under the Endangered Species Act - but won't be
listed as endangered at this time!
http://blog.reconciliationecology.org/2010/03/in-which-energy-development-is-more.html
I appreciate your feedback.
Madhu
__________________________________________
Madhusudan Katti
Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology
Department of Biology, M/S SB 73
California State University, Fresno
Fresno, CA 93740-8034
+1.559.278.2460
[email protected]
http://www.reconciliationecology.org/
__________________________________________
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