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jeffahayes

Bird & Tree conservation turned upside-down!

jeffahayes
17 years ago

Stories like THIS make me embarrassed to be from the South (except that I sometimes see similarly wildlife-unfriendly stories from other areas of the country, too).

At least this comes from NORTH Carolina.

Geesh!

Here is a link that might be useful: City residents clear-cut lots to keep out endangered woodpecker

Comments (6)

  • goodkarma_
    17 years ago

    Very, very sad. I understand wanting to keep your investments such as property value, but when you sacrifice and endagered species for money then it is just wrong. How do some people sleep at night?

    Lisa

  • jeffahayes
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    I don't know, Lisa.

    I think they put in ear plugs, wear blinders, and take lots of sleeping pills :(

    Of course I DO understand how concern could have arisen, considering how ridiculously the feds have applied some of their standards in the past, but perhaps people should have looked into possible compromise solutions mentioned near the end of that article before clear-cutting their land...

    Considering most of the land referred to seems to adjoin lake-front property, and WAS pine forest, which is typically fairly poor soil largely held together by the pine roots in those conditions, IF there come heavy rains in the next year or two, they could be looking at massive erosion problems on their property, causing major runoff into and buildup in that lake, since there won't be all those tree roots there to hold the soil in place and absorb the water.

    If that happens, I think it will be a bit of poetic justice.
    Jeff

  • jeanner
    17 years ago

    Geesh, how pathetic. Around here you pay premium prices for lots with trees since all the developments are old corn fields.

  • maryo_nh
    17 years ago

    O, for crying out loud!

    Here we have all that forest stuff, but mostly the towns with ponds and lakes have wisely put by-laws in place, to keep the water in decent shape (or return it to decent shape). This means no fertilizng, no trees or bushes can be cut down, even pruning has to be done minimally. When you want to buy lakefront property, you first go to the town hall to find out all the things you're not going to be allowed to do...

    :( Mary

  • jeffahayes
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Welcome to the rural South, Mary...

    Took the city LETTING people practically deforest the entire area and make national news in the process BEFORE they put a stop to it.

    Now I KNOW how some of these lots must have looked, based on how other wooded pine lots look -- 100 or more pine trees to the acre, as the Southern White Pine tends to grow in tight groups like that -- and pretty much ANYBODY planning to build would cut down a good percentage of those in the process to make room for their home, and thin the rest to make room for other things... but again, we're not talking about THAT MANY TREES to provide habitat for so few birds.

    People can go SO DANGED FAR off the deep end over things. Heck, maybe they should start CREATING a few "woodpecker trees" by "sap-ringing" them and cutting little "Vs" to make the beginning of what looks like a nest hole... work WITH the birds, rather than against them.

    Or does that make too much sense?
    :(

  • sheepco
    17 years ago

    How sad. Seems like it comes down to the fear that the government would shut down all development if the area became endangered species habitat.

    We have the same thing here, farmers can't plow a 1/4 acre dry pothole for fear of reprisals, even though that same farmer may have 160 acres of marginal cropland set aside for 20 years for habitat.

    How 'bout leaving X number of acres of habitat for each X number of acres developed? Seems a win-win sitch since most homeowners prefer some trees. 'Course strip malls are a different story...

    Seems our governing bodies occasionally lack 'compromise'. (Duh)

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