[mnbird] Re: [mou] MOU has leased land in the Sax Zim Bog Area

Thu, 02 Jun 2005 11:29:34 -0400

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As one of the out-of-staters (and semi-annual visitors to MN) who saw the Varied Thrush at Manley Olson's home, and benefitted from his help in finding the bird, I second his view that conservation of habitat must go hand-in-hand with conservation of places to watch birds.  In some respects it is a natural marriage -- if we preserve habitats that birds frequent, we will also have a place to go se the birds.  But as Manley also says, it is deeper than that.  As those who get such pleasure from birds, we have a corresponding responsibility to give back, and to help maintain the birds even if the habitat we maintain is not, or should not be, readily accessible for watching the birds.  Again, there is some self interest in this, in that preserving habitat for  birds may ultimately help us to see them, but I think there is an ethical/philosohical aspect to it as well.

All the best to our birding friends in MN (we come again in early August).

Eric Jeffrey
Falls Church, VA

-----Original Message-----
From: Ann and Manley Olson <a_molson@unidial.com>
To: Alt, Mark <Mark.Alt@bestbuy.com>
Cc: mou-net@cbs.umn.edu; MOU Board <mouboardcomm@yahoogroups.com>; mnbird <mnbird@lists.mnbird.net>
Sent: Thu, 02 Jun 2005 10:09:04 -0500
Subject: [mnbird] Re: [mou] MOU has leased land in the Sax Zim Bog Area

I applaud the action of the MOU to lease land in the Sax Zim Bog, 
thereby increasing the access for MOU members in this unique area of 
Minnesota. Given the propensity of land owners to increasingly espouse 
a "this land ain't your land, this land is my land" philosophy, we need 
to find ways to assure that we will be able to look for those birds that 
chose to frequent other than public lands. Working out lease 
arrangements not only helps provide this access but may also help to 
improve relations with local land owners. However we should also 
recognize that we need to be concerned with preserving habitat, even if 
it is not a place where we might actually go to seek birds. This I 
would hope that the MOU and its members would continue to support public 
acquisition of important habitat, even if it is not a place we are 
likely to visit. Not only do we need places where we personally expect to see birds,but we need to support the acquisition and 
preservation of wilderness for its own sake. It must be both/and not 
either/or. This is the vision of Thoreau (" In wildness is the 
preservation of the world"), John Muir and Aldo Leopold. In the 
concluding paragraphs of "A Sand County Almanac", Leopold passionately 
argues for the preservation of wilderness for its own sake, not just for 
the use of "trophy-recreationists" as well as trophy hunters. 

If we doubt that most of us birders are not in the trophy collection 
business, one needs only to review the data Randy Fredrickson compiled 
on the spending in pursuit of owls. For some of us the trophy was a 
photo, for others a tick on a list. After 45 years of marriage my wife 
is no longer surprised by a trip to Aitkin County to see owls but I 
think she was not quite prepared for at least 150 people from 9 states who came to our back yard seeking the Varied Thrush. 

So while I encourage the providing, either by lease or purchase, of 
places where we can bird freely, I also encourage us to put some of our 
resources into land acquisition, even if we may never bird there. 

Manley Olson 
Falcon Heights 

Anet/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mnbird 

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<HTML><BODY><DIV style='font-family: "Verdana"; font-size: 10pt;'><DIV>
<DIV>As one of the out-of-staters (and semi-annual visitors to MN) who saw the Varied Thrush&nbsp;at Manley Olson's&nbsp;home, and benefitted from his help in finding the bird, I second his view that conservation of habitat must go hand-in-hand with conservation of places to watch birds.&nbsp; In some respects it is a natural marriage -- if we preserve habitats that birds frequent, we will also have a place to go se the birds.&nbsp; But as Manley also says, it is deeper than that.&nbsp; As those who get such pleasure from birds, we have a corresponding responsibility to give back, and to help maintain the birds even if the habitat we maintain is not, or should not be, readily accessible for watching the birds.&nbsp; Again, there is some self interest in this, in that preserving habitat for &nbsp;birds&nbsp;may ultimately help us to see them, but I think there is an ethical/philosohical aspect to it as well.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>All the best to our birding friends in MN (we come again in early August).</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Eric Jeffrey</DIV>
<DIV>Falls Church, VA</DIV>&nbsp;<BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Ann and Manley Olson &lt;a_molson@unidial.com&gt;<BR>To: Alt, Mark &lt;Mark.Alt@bestbuy.com&gt;<BR>Cc: mou-net@cbs.umn.edu; MOU Board &lt;mouboardcomm@yahoogroups.com&gt;; mnbird &lt;mnbird@lists.mnbird.net&gt;<BR>Sent: Thu, 02 Jun 2005 10:09:04 -0500<BR>Subject: [mnbird] Re: [mou] MOU has leased land in the Sax Zim Bog Area<BR><BR>
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<DIV class=AOLPlainTextBody id=AOLMsgPart_0_1014f64e-64be-4286-959d-cb56182884ee>I applaud the action of the MOU to lease land in the Sax Zim Bog,&nbsp; thereby increasing the access for MOU members in this unique area of&nbsp; Minnesota. Given the propensity of land owners to increasingly espouse&nbsp; a "this land ain't your land, this land is my land" philosophy, we need&nbsp; to find ways to assure that we will be able to look for those birds that&nbsp; chose to frequent other than public lands. Working out lease&nbsp; arrangements not only helps provide this access but may also help to&nbsp; improve relations with local land owners. However we should also&nbsp; recognize that we need to be concerned with preserving habitat, even if&nbsp; it is not a place where we might actually go to seek birds. This I&nbsp; would hope that the MOU and its members would continue to support public&nbsp; acquisition of important habitat, even if it is not 
 a place we are&nbsp; likely to visit. Not only do we need places where we personally expect to see birds,but we need to support the acquisition and&nbsp; preservation of wilderness for its own sake. It must be both/and not&nbsp; either/or. This is the vision of Thoreau (" In wildness is the&nbsp; preservation of the world"), John Muir and Aldo Leopold. In the&nbsp; concluding paragraphs of "A Sand County Almanac", Leopold passionately&nbsp; argues for the preservation of wilderness for its own sake, not just for&nbsp; the use of "trophy-recreationists" as well as trophy hunters.&nbsp; &nbsp; If we doubt that most of us birders are not in the trophy collection&nbsp; business, one needs only to review the data Randy Fredrickson compiled&nbsp; on the spending in pursuit of owls. For some of us the trophy was a&nbsp; photo, for others a tick on a list. After 45 years of marriage my wife&nbsp; is no longer surprised by a trip to Aitkin Count
 y to see owls but I&nbsp; think she was not quite prepared for at least 150 people from 9 states who came to our back yard seeking the Varied Thrush.&nbsp; &nbsp; So while I encourage the providing, either by lease or purchase, of&nbsp; places where we can bird freely, I also encourage us to put some of our&nbsp; resources into land acquisition, even if we may never bird there.&nbsp; &nbsp; Manley Olson&nbsp; Falcon Heights&nbsp; &nbsp; A<A href="http://www.mnbird.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mnbird" target=_blank>net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mnbird</A>&nbsp; </DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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