Wild Pigs in Upstate New York?

Yet another example of man intro’ing non-native species (animals) into an area (we aren’t talking horses here): private hunting compounds bring in wild Russian boars and then let them escape and multiply. The feral hog problem is just starting in upstate N.Y., but it begs the question of how do such private reserves stand the test of management. Every other damn facet of our lives is managed. But, animals (safety, disease, crops, erosion) seem to fly under the scrutiny of local /state types when it comes to pricey hunting compounds. Maybe the laws/regs are there? 

Feral Pigs

 Carnivora Forum

“Feral swine are breeding in three counties in central New York, according to a federal study done last year with funding from New York’s Invasive Species Council. The wild population statewide is likely in the hundreds , said Gordon Batcheller, head of the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Bureau of Wildlife.

That’s small compared with Texas, where biologists estimate the feral hog population at around 2 million, but Batcheller said any number is bad because they’re certain to multiply. Damage becomes more noticeable when the population reaches the thousands and the hogs stake out home territories rather than wandering widely….”

“We’re not talking about Porky Pig getting loose from the farm,” Rusz said. “These are Russian wild boars. Those animals are Houdini-like escape artists and they breed readily in the wild. We’ve had domestic pigs for centuries and never had a feral hog problem until the game ranches started bringing these in.”    AP ‘Wild Boars’

Fly Tying: Are The Materials Sacred?

I was just recently talking to a friend about a beginning fly tying class they had just completed. My friend remarked how the instructor embarrassed the beginning tier in front of the classmates for failing to properly cut the material for use on the fly. The not so delicate implication was the student was being disrespectful to the material, wasteful and to the creature that had given up its hide in the process by not cutting the material from the hide close enough. Hmmm? Seriously?

Now, I appreciate there are endangered critters out there protected and hence we most probably should not use the critter’s fur, hair or feathers because of that protected status. But, beyond that is it coming to the point that now the materials are sacred?

BS I say. My $$$, my choice to hoard, waste or share. Such foolery! Like moralizing away over the waste not, want not, ways of utilizing every ounce of a harvested whale or cariboo.

Save it righteous one for bigger issues. Like all the premium hackles being scarfed up for head bands, hair weaves and earrings. What say you pious one to that?

Pebble Mine’s Reality Check (China)

I can by no means frame the contentious Pebble Mine debate any better than the article I am linking to in this post by Andrew Jensen @ The Alaska Journal of Commerce. Seriously take a few minutes to read it and consider the realities here. Whether the mining process moves forward or not based upon celebs, fishing industry, eviro’s and FFers input is, to me, frankly insignificant. The often ignored point is China. It is being ignored in our country’s current debt debate and financial crisis by many. China now owns us. China is one of the largest consumers of resources and will surpass us and India soon to consume the majority of natural resources. China will eventually own the majority interest in Pebble Mine. Yes. (China & Mining & Fishing) (China & Gold Production)

“So while China is snapping up mineral rights for essentials like copper and stockpiling its rare earth minerals — for which the U.S. is 100 percent dependent on imports — not developing Pebble may not be a luxury America can afford forever, according to Yale professor Oswald Schmitz.” (I say we won’t have a say because China will dictate the development for us)

So, with all the notable celebs and groups that have mounted anti Pebble attention why no substantive response from the Obama Administration. They (Dem’s) have held the power since 2006 (Congressional) and Executive since 2008. Why? The usual connect the media dots by such groups re all manner of fav issues is most often enough to result in legislation or executive orders for regulations to control most aspects of our life, especially in the last two years. Token BS about innovation for green this and that; wind turbines, solar…yadda yadda.  Why nothing substantive on Pebble Mine? The sense of urgency should be about our financial house of cards, our resources (managed or not) and China. Just a matter of time re the Pebble Mine holdings and China’s insertion into the mix. Then what?

Global Fisheries Need Help…Now

Ok, I had to do something to offset the abysmal statistics and suppositions re the health of our world wide ocean fisheries. Plus, it is about time for my quarterly attempt at matching Moldy Chum’s or The Shooting Head’s Provocateur Factor.

Andrew Purvis provides a lengthy and I must say balanced presentation of assessments re the state of the varied ocean fisheries and what other nations or alliances are doing to rebuild certain fisheries or forestall total decimation.

“Worse still, after stripping our own seas bare, we have “exported fishing capacity to the waters of developing countries”, Professor Roberts warns. Off Mauritania, Senegal and other West African countries, fleets from the rich industrial north are “fishing in a totally unsustainable way with minimal oversight by European countries”. In return for plundering the oceans, which deprives local people of food, and artisanal fishermen of their livelihood, these vessels pay minimal fees that impoverished countries are happy to accept. “It is a mining operation,” Professor Roberts says, “a rerun of the exploitation of terrestrial wealth that happened in colonial days. This is colonialism in a new guise, albeit with a respectable cloak in the form of access agreements.”  (Andrew Purvis @ The Observer)

Pebble Mine Update?

Hot button topic a few years ago. Much angst was generated against the then current administration. It appears that Obama et al (Browner/Salazar/USACE/BLM) are receiving a pass. This recent critique is somewhat tame with ‘apparently” and “maybe”. Pretty tepid. Pretty wimpy. Pretty trusting considering how much they are mucking up everything else. Also, given the Obama monies to PetroBras and the Soros investments in Platinum Group Metals (PMG) too much trust here is not deserved. Oh, please, spare me any Media Matters or HuffPo drivel. The focus on coal mining reforms should not distract from the Bristol Bay threat.

Pool 32 Mag & NatGeo provide  yet another visual and mental reminder that this whole issue of minerals v. fish; risk v. habitat is still there, and it is about time the pass for Obama et al stops!

POOL 32 MAG

NatGeo & Bristol Bay Overview

 

Fly Fishing: Ethics and Personal Responsibility

“No, the trouble with fish-finders is that they were introduced to South African freshwaters by bass fishers. That’ the problem….Bass may be unlikeable fish in the estimation of the member, but that opinion is of little consequence in a discourse about ethics, even if environmentalists would disagree. The member’s main problem with bass is that they are pursued by phalanxes of garishly dressed yokels piloting overpowered motorboats at insane velocities all over the dam, dominating all corners of any fishery which they happen to infest, loudly, arrogantly and always with a nauseatingly ostentatious display of wealth. That is inconsiderate behaviour and, by any definition of summum bonum, unethical.
Bass anglers use fish finders. Let me rephrase that, no self-respecting bassie would start up his 200 horsepower phallus replacement without a fish-finder.” Neels Blom

I have a modest affliction for gadgets. Modest, I say, because I don’t have all the FF gadgets rigged around my neck. Just a few. I have at times felt over equipped when out on a lake with my pontoon boat. A regular fishing machine. No electric trolling motor or electronics. I once toyed with the idea of a fish finder, but for some reason, not thought through, I did not make that purchase. More prep, more set up, less time fishing. And, more often than not, if given enough time, I find some fish. I am not a process/relish the set up sort of guy.

 

Ethics. Civility. Some structure. As long as it does not impinge on my sense of liberty…especially these days, is a good personal decision. The collective ethics of fly fishers, for me, sometimes has an air of righteousness shrouded in enviro ethics that is heavy, pontificating, arrogant. Why I fell away from clubs, committees, boards. Must everything be over regulated? Over thought? I fish to escape structure, society, even the collective group mentality that smothers us at every turn today. Saving the world and me at every turn. Oh, yes those noble people out their fighting the good fight, saving the whatever(s). Yes, seems noble, necessary…..   The message seems lost on the individual for individual ethics and focused on the group and the law. Hmmm?

Too each their own, as Neels Blom says at the conclusion of his above piece. Individually celebrate, protect, worship and quietly share with a few now and then.

 

Hungary: Second Toxic Spill Likely

Workers are rushing to create dams to stop the additional leaking of 3 toxic pools. A current wall, that remains, is likely to breach. Company exec arrested.

“The sludge from last Monday’s spill reached the Danube — Europe’s second-largest river — on Thursday, raising fears of wider contamination in Hungary and countries downstream, including Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and the Ukraine.

Water test results released Friday, however, indicated the sludge may not harm the Danube after all. The pH level of the Danube water was only slightly higher than normal.

The exact chemical composition of the sludge has not been revealed, but aluminum processing normally involves compounds that include cyanide, cadmium and chromium.”  (more CNN)     (Aerial view)