[mnbird] Re: [mou] paying to use state wildlife land

[Sharon Stiteler]

I'm not saying that people shouldn't contribute to or join other bird  
conservation organizations.  I just don't want birders ignore the  
duck stamp program because of the antiquated notion that it's for  
harvesting not conservation.

Sharon Stiteler
Minneapolis, MN
www.birdchick.com
Bird/Wildlife Observation Specialist for www.eagleoptics.com



On Mar 25, 2006, at 2:20 PM, Laura Erickson wrote:

> As cool as it is that less than 2% of the Duck Stamp money goes to
> administrative costs, that's because it's administrated by federal
> agencies that get other funding, in the form of our taxes, to cover  
> their
> administrative costs.  How could Audubon, ABC, National Wildlife
> Federation, and other private organizations survive and develop a
> consistent, strong voice in environmental issues if they had no one to
> cover their administrative costs?  I agree that some large  
> organizations
> are too "top heavy," and some top executives of them are probably too
> well-compensated, but heavens!  Right now people with a lot of
> administrative skills in our litigious society can go to the private
> sector and get paid a lot more.  And most of the people who work  
> for these
> organizations are not at all well-paid, do not get great benefits, and
> don't get much respect even from those of us who benefit most  
> obviously
> from their hard work.
>
> I think it's important for us all to allocate our donations for bird
> conservation where we each believe our money will best be used.  I
> strongly support the Duck Stamp program.  I also strongly support  
> several
> environmental and bird organizations that work very hard and  
> accomplish
> things that are very important for bird conservation.  For me, it's  
> not an
> either/or situation--I figure out how much I can afford, and divide  
> that
> out as well as I can.  The greatest successes are when individuals and
> organizations work together to achieve a goal, not when we compete  
> with
> those who should be our teammates.
>
>
> Laura Erickson
> Duluth, MN
>
> Staff Ornithologist
> Binoculars.com
> www.birderblog.com
>
> There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds.
> There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of
> nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after  
> the
> winter.
>
> 			--Rachel Carson
>
>
>>> Audubon, Nature Conservancy, National resources Defense Council,
>>> Wilderness Society, American Rivers,etc., etc.
>>
>>
>> I appreciate some of those organizations and even belong to at least
>> one, but I wonder if any of those organizations are as efficient with
>> their money as the duck stamp program.  Less than 2% of the money
>> from duck stamps goes to administrative costs, the rest goes to
>> buying up habitat--that's over 98%.
>>
>> I really am surprised at the notion that because birders aren't
>> "harvesting" ducks they shouldn't have to help buy up habitat so they
>> can have the right to watch birds for free.  You can watch birds
>> anywhere, great birds are in backyards, but we need those breeding
>> grounds in place to keep seeing them.  Duck stamps help support other
>> birds like warblers, rails, herons, egrets, raptors, owls, etc.
>> Right now, duck hunters have to buy a stamp, but their numbers are
>> going down.  If those numbers continue to decline, so will money for
>> buying up habitat and all the birders who feel that they can use the
>> resource for free won't have much resource left to look at, let alone
>> the birds that benefit from that habitat.
>>
>> Sharon Stiteler
>> Minneapolis, MN
>> www.birdchick.com
>> Bird/Wildlife Observation Specialist for www.eagleoptics.com
>>
>>
>>
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