|
October Invasive
Species Month - Four Simple Things
Minnesotans Can Do to Help Stop the Spread of Invasives
(Note: The Nature "Conservancy" has provided a marvelous
example of Language Deception. Read with the intellect rather than the
emotions and grow aware of L.D. and its invasion. This is a massive
campaign to codify "invasive species" -- whatever that
means. Those designing this trap have been very careful to appeal to
emotions while skirting facts. Sufficient legislation already exists
to deal with "Noxious Species." Something as deliberately
undefinable as "invasive species" is no more than a way to
create more regulatory victims. There's a huge hook lurking within
that tastily-written bait.)
October 3, 2005
Minneapolis, Minnesota - Invasive
species are invading Minnesota. Buckthorn is overtaking
woodlands. Purple loosestrife is filling
wetlands. Gypsy moths are damaging
acres and acres of trees. To
draw attention to threats from these and other alien invaders,
Governor Tim Pawlenty declared October Invasive Species Month.
Invasive species are non-native plants, animals and pathogens that cause environmental damage, economic loss, or harm to human health. These pests displace native species, harm habitat and degrade natural, managed and agricultural landscapes. Minnesota is presently battling a number of invasive pests, including gypsy moths, zebra mussels, Eurasian water milfoil, purple loosestrife and garlic mustard. There are also many new invasive species that could arrive and damage forests, lakes and rivers. The list of potential invaders includes Asian longhorn beetle, emerald ash borer, bighead carp, silver carp, hydrilla and kudzu. Some Minnesotans may be overwhelmed with the magnitude of invasive species issues and feel that the problem is beyond their capacity to have any impact. Wrong! Citizens can make a difference by adopting some simple practices. Invasive Species Awareness Month is an opportunity for government to join forces with business, industry, conservation groups, recreational groups, community organizations and citizens to take action against the introduction and spread of invasive species. During the month, there will be opportunities statewide to find out more about invasive species and what organizations and individuals are doing about them. Any effort, big or small, is significant! Through knowledge comes change. What can you do? To find out about invasive species related events going on across the state you can go to the Minnesota Native Plant Society website at http://www.mnnps.org/invasive Following is a list of high-impact
actions that are relatively simple for citizens to implement
in their standard routines. Firewood can harbor many different kinds of invasive pests and diseases harmful to Minnesota’s trees, including gypsy moths, oak wilt, emerald ash borer and beech bark disease. If you bring firewood when camping, burn all of it. The longer it remains on the ground, the more chance that a pest or disease can move into the living trees nearby. Don't bring firewood from out of state, especially Lower Michigan; it’s at high risk of carrying emerald ash borer. Instead, buy firewood produced locally. It has less risk of introducing new pests and diseases to an area. Action #2: Protect Our Waters! Invasive species such as zebra mussels and Eurasian watermilfoil can hitch a ride on boats and trailers and in live wells, traveling from one body of water to another. It is illegal to launch a watercraft with zebra mussels or aquatic plants attached. To avoid transporting aquatic invasive species: INSPECT your boat, trailer and equipment and REMOVE
visible aquatic plants, animals and mud. Action #3: Stop the Spread by Sole and Tread! You may be a hunter, birdwatcher, mountain biker, all-terrain vehicle user, or hiker. Whether walking or riding through city parks or remote natural areas, you may unknowingly be collecting the seeds of invasive plants on your footwear and vehicle tires. They can then be transferred to wherever your feet and vehicle go. To avoid transporting terrestrial invasive species: Keep a small, stiff-bristled brush in your vehicle, home and/or backpack. Before traveling through natural areas, inspect and brush your footwear clean of caked-on soil and seeds. A small screwdriver may be handy for prying mud from deep treads. This should also be done during the course of a hike if you knowingly walk through an area of heavy invasive species infestation. Regularly inspect and remove caked-on soil and seeds
from vehicle tires after off-road travel. Spray tires down with
high-pressure water. Plants that you install in your home water garden or landscape may escape cultivation and become invasive species that crowd out native plants, damage habitat for fish, birds and wildlife, diminish recreational opportunities, and incur great expenses for their control. Seeds, berries and plant fragments from your garden can be spread to adjacent natural areas by wind, water (especially flooding), footwear, vehicle tires, and even by animals who eat them or carry them in their fur. Before buying plants, check to see if they have the potential to be invasive. Avoid planting invasive species, or seek to understand species-specific ‘safe practices’ required to prevent them from spreading to natural areas. If you discover that you have invasive species in your home landscape, remove them, kill them, or prevent them from spreading beyond your yard.
Copyright 2005, The Nature Conservancy.
Another example of Language Deception:
Politicians vote little mercy to God’s
creatures
(Note: Think of Brer Rabbit and his apparently fearful pleas to go
anywhere but the brier patch, and you'll have the gist of what this
really says. There's a very good reason that trees, cropland, etc.,
are called renewable resources -- because they are renewable and able
to be replenished. By stopping all use of resources, resource
providers are effectively made to go extinct and a countryful of
consumers -- dependent upon all its needs being met by the use and
abuse of other countries' resources -- is created. That unspoken fact
is never mentioned by such writers who have been trained to skillfully
weave strands of fact into cloaks of something other than fact.
Stealing the resource provider's ability to provide resources does
nothing for owls, spotted or not, and trees, large or otherwise. This
seeming "push the panic button to "save" everything
story is written to appeal to emotions and paralyze rational thinking.
Who doesn't want to protect things? Well, this has nothing to do with
actual "protection" and everything to do with Control.
Schoolyard bullies always want Control of all the marbles: theirs and
everyone else's. This treachery, cloaked in Language Deception, is
nothing new -- it's just on a lot larger scale.)
October 8, 2005
By Shirley Ragsdale sragsdale@dmreg.com or
515-284-8208 Register Columnist (and "Religion Editor")
Des Moines Register
715 Locust Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
800-532-1455 or 515-284-8000. Outside Iowa: 800-247-5346
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@dmreg.com
When it comes to our nation's natural
wonders, there is a tug of war going on between those who want to
preserve them and those who want to use them up.
Last week, those who want to profit from cutting down the last old-growth tree, take a potshot at the last spotted owl or dam the spawning grounds of the last Chinook salmon were high-fiving one another in Congress. Despite pleas from a coalition of religious and environmental organizations, the U.S. House overhauled and weakened the Endangered Species Act. The measure must also be considered in the Senate. "As a religious community interested in protecting all of God's creation, including the seemingly most insignificant creatures, we oppose any piece of legislation that diminishes protection for species that are already in danger of becoming extinct," said Cassandra Carmichael, director of eco-justice for the National Conference of Churches. The bill passed by the House: • Eliminated critical habitat protections for land where endangered species face imminent extinction. • Gave the government only two years to come up with a plan to save endangered species. • Gave the Secretary of the Interior the power to decide what scientific studies to use in designating and protecting endangered species. • Required the government to pay landowners for the value of developments that are blocked because of potential harm to endangered species. • Repealed restrictions on use of pesticides harmful to endangered species. In a letter to Congress, the coalition of Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, Catholic, Mennonite, Presbyterian and United Church of Christ leaders disavowed "misleading economic interests that would drive us to sacrifice the wonder, beauty, usefulness and graciousness of the gifts God has given us all . . . Development and profit at the expense of God's glory, of which the environment and all the species are but part, is sinful." The faith groups' message must have touched a chord with someone, because during the debate, four Old Testament books -- Genesis, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and Isaiah -- reportedly were quoted. Those pressing for relaxing federal environmental regulations prefer quoting Genesis, the part about human dominion over the Earth. However, "dominion" doesn't mean that God gave humans the right to do as they please on Earth, according to the Rev. Ron Eslinger, interim associate Iowa conference minister for the United Church of Christ. "It's a misreading of Scripture," Eslinger said. "We were placed here to be good stewards of creation, not merely consumers. It seems this administration is not respectful of what science is trying to teach us." Mark Salvador, national policy adviser for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, said farmers and ranchers don't have a problem with placing value on endangered creatures. They just don't want to be the the only ones bearing the burden. "There is a cost involved when people lose the ability to farm, ranch or harvest timber," Salvador said. "It's only fair that the (taxpayers) share in the process of rehabilitation of endangered species if, in fact, the species is a public good." At one point in the House debate, Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont., brought a shovel to the House floor to illustrate how his farmer-rancher constituents fear that someone might find an endangered species on their land, forcing them to "shoot, shovel and shut up" to rid themselves of inconvenient varmints. Whether that's sinful or not, I'm no judge. But it would be a federal crime. In the end, private property rights held sway over God's creatures. The bill (HR 3824) passed 229-193.
The lawmakers revered "the almighty buck above Almighty
God," the Rev. Bill Exner, an Episcopal priest who
rallied against the measure, told the Concord (Mass.) Monitor.
That the "do as we please" view of the Earth is prevailing is a sad state of affairs, said Susan Stroope, the Restoring Creation enabler for the Des Moines Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church USA. "We have lost appreciation for what it means to live sustainably," Stroope said. "I would like to get some of these Congressmen aside and ask them what they are thinking. I'd like to ask them what causes them to vote this way." Ray Heinicke, an independent environmental consultant, has worked with the Southeast Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 1990.
He subscribes to the teachings of Joe Sittler, an
ELCA theologian and perhaps
the first environmental theologian.
"Sittler interpreted Creation and the environment as 'the theater of grace,' and I like that term," Heinicke said. Obviously that enlightenment hasn't reached Washington, D.C. "I hope God is not sitting back and thinking this is a bad joke," Stroope said. "He gave mankind the ability to choose between right and wrong. Maybe we also have the ability to be really stupid, too." How Iowa congressmen voted The House approved, 229-193, changes to the Endangered Species Act. The bill would pay private landowners blocked from developing their land and also would narrow the definition of "habitat" that must be protected to save a species.
Following are comments by Iowa's House representatives, all of whom
are Republicans.
Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell, a Democrat, is hospitalized
and did not vote.
Rep. Jim Leach, an Episcopalian, voted against the bill: "Nature is extraordinarily complex. While it is often unclear what the effect of disrupting natural balances might be, it is clear that all species interact and that chain reactions change the nature of the planet. Hence, environmental caution should be the guiding principle for policymakers." Rep. Tom Latham, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, voted for the bill: "Since the enactment of the Endangered Species Act over 30 years ago, only 10 of the almost 1,300 species listed for protection have actually been recovered and de-listed. A less than 1 percent recovery rate over that amount of time proves that the current law is largely ineffective and we must do better. These common-sense reforms refocus our energy into truly protecting threatened and endangered species." Rep. Jim Nussle, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, voted for the bill: "Congressman Nussle . . . believes that modernizing the Act with provisions in HR 3824 will work to make the act more effective and timely, thus restoring more endangered species to healthy and sustainable populations." Rep. Steve King, a Roman Catholic, voted for the bill: "The outdated ESA has no measurable benefit to the very species it is pledged to protect. In 33 years, it has less than a one percent success rate in recovering endangered species. It is past time to amend the act and put in its place a measurable plan that can preserve endangered species while protecting the rights and interests of humanity."
Copyright 2005, The Des Moines Register.
To read more by this writer and learn how she plies her craft:
|