From: bws20@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Brian W Simmons)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: growth,was re:wolves
Summary: Get active!!
Date: 28 Dec 92 14:35:17 GMT
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu


Well, this nascent thread about folks moving from bad places--like,
IMHO, California--to good places, like Montana, etc. is sort of kind
of related to hunting, so with the moderator's indulgence I will add
one more remark.

Out here in the West, everyone bitches about the Californians moving in
and ruining everything.  Back home we always bitched about the Yankees
coming down and screwing everything up and whining about how it "wasn't
like this in New York City"  blah blah blah.

The thing is, California used to be pretty nice, too, and as Steve Hix
pointed out, there is still a lot left here that is nice.  Wherever you
are, you are wasting your breath complaining about the folks moving in,
cause you are the ones selling them the property and begging them to move
their jobs there.  And if it's not you personally, then it is the
politicians you elect, or the bureaucrats you suffer to be appointed.

As the original poster (sorry, I can only remember he was a Montanan)
indicated, what is critical for the wildlife (here is the rec.hunting
stuff) is the habitat.  In the Rocky Mountain states the most important
habitat is winter range, which is the best place in the world to build
condos, and office parks, and for that matter, for ranchers to have
their hay meadows, etc. etc.

As a local citizen, you _can_ have an impact on what happens.  You may
not keep the Californians out (you sure as heck won't keep _this_
transplant out!), but you can manage growth if you are willing to.
This will require personal involvement; you cannot leave it to someone
else, because that someone else is probably the Chamber of Commerce for
whom ALL growth is GOOD growth.  You can go to town and county meetings,
and lobby for slow, managed growth.  You can help determine what kinds
of businesses move in, and what impacts they will have on the local
landscape.  You can see to it that commercial and residential developers
are required to provide mitigation for their development, for example
if they rape 100 acres over here, they have to set aside and protect x
acres over yonder.

I know this is not easy, and I know it demands a lot out of you in terms
of time and effort and probably money.  But it is up to you and your neigh
bors to determine your future, and the future of wildlife and wild lands
in your area.  If you don't care enough to help manage the changes, well
you have no right to complain.

With the new administration, I think we may luck out environmentally.  I
think the appointee for Sec of Interior actually values the environment
rather than thinking merely of how it can be exploited.  Send him a letter
and let him know what you think and what you hope for the future of our
nation.  Call or better write your congresspersons.  If you are reading
this, you are obviously computer literate; writing a few letters shouldn't
be a big deal, should it?

Get active.

bws, who disclaims that the use of "you" in this note is used only in a
     generic sense, and is not directed at any particular person.
--
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bws20@amail.amdahl.com      the human heart holds hidden treasures,
brian wesley simmons          in secret kept, in silence sealed
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Newsgroups: rec.hunting