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Posted by Rock Jetty on 11:46:18 06/26/08
In Reply to: Re: Rebuttal to the rebuttal posted by Toe
What are you talking about Toe!?
Forgive me for saying this, but some of your comments are way off in left field. The restoration (rehabilitation) efforts are concerning an ecosystem. In theory, if you rehabilitate it, everything else pertaining to THAT ecosystem (or at least most of it) will fall into place. Are we going to drop everything and further manipulate that habitat at the expense of shorebirds?! That habitat was never 'shorebird habitat' to begin with! It's like comparing apples to oranges.
Shorebirds are not resident species of Everglades freshwater marshes. These marshes, dominated by sawgrass, spikerush, beakrush, lily pads, and so forth, are home to Snail Kite, Purple Gallinule, Wood Stork, herons, egrets, bitterns, rails, and the list goes on. Are we not exercising avian conservation by restoring habitat for these species that again, was taken away from them to begin with.
Shorebird habitat use to be abundant along the periphery of these marshes. Take it up with Lennar Corp. or Atlantic Civil. Shorebird conservation needs to be a concerted effort between agencies at multiple levels of government (federal, state, county) as well as grass-roots organizations. It's about generating public awareness...it's about regulating horseshoe crab fisheries in New Jersey so the Red Knot can have enough food source for their long migration and for successful nesting...it's about setting up mitigation lands near urban areas as habitat along shorebird migration pathways...it's about stopping the killings of several endangered species of shorebird in Barbados (not Aruba). It's not about putting down the efforts of a long-awaited restoration and suggesting we cater to a single group of animals when ALL are in peril.
We fight our battles one at a time...quickly.
-RJ
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