[mou] paying to use state wildlife land

[Laura Erickson]

I'd like to augment Rick's points.  Many people just don't "get" that most
of the birds we see wherever we live breed, spend winter and migrate
through other areas.  The LeConte's Sparrows I so treasure at my
mother-in-law's place need habitat where they winter, and islands of
habitat between there and here, simply to survive.  That's true of ALL
birds, whether they are waterfowl or hummingbirds.  Duck Stamps provide a
lot of rich habitat as anyone who has spent any time at national wildlife
refuges and wildlife
management can attest.


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


> Sharon Stiteler wrote:
>>> 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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>>
> Me too.  I think that too many people have grown up in urban evirons and
> do not appreciate the protection of our dwindling wild areas and do not
> seen the value in acquiring land to be protected.
>
> --
>
> Rick
> Fargo, ND
> ----------------------
> Chaos reigns within.
> Reflect, Repeat and re-boot.
> Order shall return.
>
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