Ken Damro Says:
July 16th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I moved to Wisconsin’s North woods when I was 19 years old, (that was some 31 years ago.) I first lived near Eagle River, then near Rib Lake, and now in Florence County.
I support ELPC’s efforts and I for one would love to see the Chequamegon/Nicolet be designated wilderness or some similar designation – giving priority to wildlife and recreation rather than silviculture. Yet it is not “fragmentation” due to logging that is the major threat to this forest. Invasive species are a bigger threat and logging plays a big part in introducing and spreading new invasives.

I have done research on Chimney Swifts – they once nested abundantly in the north woods – in large hollow trees, but now they are very rare here and have had to resort to nesting in urban and agrarian habitats. I have had my Chimney Swift research published but government forestry agencies seem to turn their back on the fact that this bird is nearly extinct in it’s native habitat.

Each May and June I do bird surveys in the Chequamegon/Nicolet Forest. In some areas of the forest, the presence of Brown-headed Cowbirds and their parasitic actions are abundant. I see lots of thrush and ovenbird eggs distributed randomly on roads and other clearings – these are eggs the female cowbirds have removed while laying their own eggs. Each June and July I watch as songbirds such as Yellow throated Vireos and Scarlet Tanangers work hard to feed cowbird fledgelings. These cowbirds are not the result of logging as much as the result of development and agriculture.
I know this is a tough concept for most of us to swallow, but I have to proclaim that It is largely our animal based diets that are causing this type of agriculture to exist. Dairy, beef, and grain farms allow these cowbirds a foothold in habitat they would otherwise shun. If we all went vegan, we could eliminate the lion’s share of this type of agri-business. (This is because it is MUCH more efficient eating plants directly – rather than feeding plants to animals for food.) Eating a plant based diet can reduce our environmental footprint 20 fold.
Yes, the biodiversity of the north woods is decreasing, but the remedy is not as simple as decreasing logging – logging is only a very small part of the problem. It is our everyday consumptive choices that really make an impact.
Yet…
It would be nice to see the ELPC go after the state and county forestry – this is where the real devastation occurs. These agencies do a much greater percentage of clear cutting than the Feds and they don’t give much time or money to the effects on rare species – their job is not to make the birds sing, but to make the ledger sing.

In my opinion, Don Waller’s article refers to permanent fragmentation – due mostly to development and agri-business. His words don’t apply directly to logging.

So while I support the ELPC’s efforts to curb logging in the north woods, I think we are spending lots of effort on the symptoms rather than the true cause.

Your link didn't come up, but I think I know who you are talking about. Didn't he claim to have been a government trapper at one time?

There s also a guy that claims to have been a commercial fisherman that says he could not eat a fish anymore than he could eat his pet dog, that fish are intelligent and have wonderful personalities.

http://wcca.wicourts.gov/pager.do;jsessi...tDirection=DESC


This is what I found on the guy.

You could also fight fire w/ fire and say/report "he is not believed to have ever been a hunter/trapper according to current reports". Let him try and prove he was. Sound familiar?