RE: [Paddlewise] Chief Seattle's words

I know, my ignorance is pitiful. If only I could become a self loathing
liberal, ashamed of the success of my culture everything would be better.

I didn't say that there is no habitat reduction or no pollution. I said I am
not suffocating in my own waste or lacking basic resources (or even
indulgent ones). Those gross exaggerations are what trigger the sharp
polarization in views of the environment. 

Of course I wish I could hunt in the places I used to hunt, but people built
houses there. I could be mad about that and try to demand that the house I
was living in be the last one built, but that does seem a bit self-centered.
Doesn't it?

I haven't noticed anyone on this list volunteering to tear down their home
and return the place where they live back to its original state. If any of
you did I would be more open to your view and if several did I might
actually begin to question my views on this subject. 

We use resources, but are we using them up? Did "native" Americans ever hunt
out an area and move to another? Of course they did. Predator / prey cycles
are normal and self limiting. When fishing production in an area becomes
unprofitable, fishermen are forced to move elsewhere. It's a cycle that has
been in play for as long as humans have existed. Well, actually that cycle
predates humans, because animal predators do it and even herbivores do the
exact same thing with vegetation.

Purifying water? Giardia has been around for a long time. It is spread by
animals as well as humans and is not a product of modern civilization. You
think diarrhea from bad water is a modern invention?

Whoever made that statement about "suffocating in their own waste"
undoubtedly had fewer resources, more sickness, less free time, and likely a
shorter life span than anyone on this list. That statement is not only
inaccurate; it seems to be the desperate venting of a man whose culture is
being displaced by a more successful one. Almost like "You'll be sorry when
I'm gone"

I am in favor of sensible habitat protection, increased coastal access,
water pollution reduction, and well thought out game management, but
hysterical exaggerations about the environment are not going to get my
endorsement or gain my cooperation in making things better. 

Steve Brown
 

-----Original Message-----
   I was born and raised in sunny Southern California, where you also live
Steve. I have witnessed first hand the consumption of the free spaces where
I
used to hunt and camp and explore. I grew up listening to stories from my
father, who also grew up here, about how wonderful this place used to be
when
he was younger.... We do not have access to our beaches like most other
states do in that a large portion of our coastline, or at least access to
it,
is now private property. ...... How
may times a year are our beaches closed due to sewage leaks? Every single
camping guide to Southern California that I have read in the last twenty or
so
years says that ALL water in our local wilderness environments should be
filtered due to contaminants. The Fish and Game regulations have warnings
about eating ANY seafood that might have come from certain locations - Palos
Verdes, an area that you frequently paddle, is one of them. I have a book,
"Fifty Golden Years," which was signed by the author in 1957, about the
history of Newport Beach from 1909 to 1956 which records, among other
significant historical highlights, the outstanding fishery that used to
exist
here. ....... I guess ignorance is bliss.

Scott
So.Cal.
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