The Attack On Science At The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

[stromboli]

http://travislongcore.net/2016/01/09/i-stand-with-linda-sue-beck-the-attack-on-science-at-malheur-national-wildlife-refuge/

Linda Sue Beck. It is at her desk that Ammon Bundy, leader of the group of armed anti-government religious fanatics occupying Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, has set up shop. As a federal biologist, like my father was for decades, she works to steward the resources that are held in common trust for all Americans. My stomach turned as the report came through the radio today â€" approaching a week into the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge â€" and I heard the descriptions of the Bundys picking through her belongings and ridiculing her work.

“She’s not here working for the people,” Ammon’s brother Ryan is quoted as saying. “She’s not benefiting America. She’s part of what’s destroying America.”

The occupiers of the refuge poke fun at Beck, her research on fish, and the normal trappings of a research station, including a dried bird in a storage area. They incredulously claim that the bird is “what they’re going to kill people over.” Presumably “they” is the federal government, and they mean to convey that Nature â€" the birds, the fish, the land â€" has no use or value.

These sentiments run counter to American history of conservation and scientific land management. The wildlife refuge system was started because the visionary Teddy Roosevelt could see that the continent risked losing its iconic wildlife if every species and every place was fair game to be hunted. Malheur was one of the first wildlife refuges, established in 1908, and became part of the growing field of scientific wildlife management that came to fruition in the United States.

Science and the National Wildlife Refuges are intertwined, with an entire model of species conservation and management emerging from regulated hunting and fishing with wildlife refuges at its core. National Wildlife Refuges are places where pathbreaking scientific research has taken place that has led to the great breakthroughs of wildlife management: research on the impacts of lead shot and its replacement by steel shot, the effects of DDT and its subsequent ban, and of course the impacts of harvest on fish and game populations. I know; refuge names were etched into my adolescent vocabulary as my father’s research sites. Patuxent. Missisquoi. Moosehorn. National Wildlife Refuges are secular shrines to wildlife science and scientific management. Do politics and consensus play a role in their management? Certainly, but the National Wildlife Refuges and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are built on the bulwark of the science of wildlife and fisheries sciences.

The armed takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is, therefore, not just an attack on a federal property. It cuts deeper than that. It is an attack on the modern science-based approach to land management and it is an attack on the value and worth of science and scientists in the United States. This should not come as a surprise. The armed occupiers are extremist Mormons â€" one of them identified himself as “Captain Moroni” (a figure from the Book of Mormon) and Ammon Bundy describes his actions as the result of consultation with “the Lord.” The occupiers are photographed kneeling in prayer at the refuge. In Linda Sue Beck’s office. Attacks on science from those with extremist religious views are now an unfortunate part of the American political landscape.

Swirling around the Bundys is a maelstrom of conservative malcontents that trace their roots back to the “wise use” movement of the 1980s with its decidedly anti-intellectual and anti-scientific take on the management of public lands. Set aside the ownership of the land â€" Bundy and the self-styled “patriot” militias of the West fundamentally question the scientific basis for land management.

Unfortunately, the ill-informed reporters sent to cover the slow-motion catastrophe in Oregon fall into the rhetorical trap of the Bundys and their anti-scientific talk-radio enablers. When the occupiers blithely talk of putting the land “to use” again (as if scientific research, recreation, hunting, fishing, education, and all manner of public access were not “use”), the CNN reporter mindlessly repeats the trope, implying that the occupiers have a legitimate demand in wanting to work the land, as if it were some sort of de Tocquevillian tragedy that one of the most productive migratory bird stopover sites on the Pacific flyway was not being overrun with cattle by the ranchers from Utah. No, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge does not need to be worked, and CNN should have reporters that know better than to take the claim at face value.

So I stand with Linda Sue Beck and all of the federal scientists who serve to research, protect, and manage our federal lands. I stand with the scientists, who are under siege, by anti-intellectual know-nothings in the halls of Congress, by vapid inciters on talk radio, and now by armed religious extremists in their very offices. It is time for America to stand up as well.

As a long time outdoorsman and an individual who has donated and participated in conservation efforts, this really makes my blood boil. The same ignorant attitude is on display every time the issues of land use vs. land exploitation comes up. There has been a decades long battle between conservation groups and ignorant pinheads like the Bundys that would simply use the land as they saw fit and destroy it in the process.

Running cattle and sheep on federal lands was an issue back when I was a child. Both are invasive species in how they impact the environment. If allowed to do so, the Bundys and their like would simply deplete the land of resources for their own benefit. In doing so they would crowd out wildlife and native species, to the point of literally destroying the land; native species do not deplete resources but are part of the natural cycle that replenishes over time. Cattle and sheep eat plants all the way to the ground, leaving nothing to regenerate. A herd of sheep left untouched would deplete vast acreages in short order, leaving nothing for deer, elk and other ruminants.

If somebody puts a bullet through that fucker's head I won't grieve over his remains.

The irony is that the NRA and other (former) hunter's groups have traditionally supported wildlife conservation. Now they support a group of semi literate ranchers that are all pissed off because they are made to work in an ethical conservative way with nature. Fuck every one of them.

[josephpalazzo]

So when will the army, the state troopers, or whatever is supposed to represent the authorities, put an end to this circus?

[stromboli]

So when will the army, the state troopers, or whatever is supposed to represent the authorities, put an end to this circus?

You got me, JP. Guarantee I won't go anywhere near the place because I would plug any one of those fuckers right between the eyes. Apparently being a white rancher in Oregon gives you more rights than a black man in the inner city, or something. Makes no sense to me.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The militants want a confrontation with the government. Gives them a stage to play martyr on. There's no "win" for the US public at this point, just damage control.

[Baruch]

New tac nuke test site ;-)

Stromboli ... get with the program already, the NRA became the thug arm of the R-party back in 1980.  They aren't about hunting, they are about neo-Nazis.

[stromboli]

The militants want a confrontation with the government. Gives them a stage to play martyr on. There's no "win" for the US public at this point, just damage control.

Agreed, but I'd like to see the strongest condemnation possible from every quarter. Surprisingly the LDS church was one of the first to do so, which raised their stock among liberals and lowered it among conservatives. Still a smart move IMO.

[stromboli]

New tac nuke test site ;-)

Stromboli ... get with the program already, the NRA became the thug arm of the R-party back in 1980.  They aren't about hunting, they are about neo-Nazis.

I know. I was a member prior to that. It used to be a hunter's organization that worked with the government and even funded some conservation efforts. Ducks Unlimited, a hunting group, has contributed more for wetlands preservation than any other private group.

[stromboli]

@Gawdzilla: I made a comment on one of your posts in another thread that, in retrospect, might have been seen as an insult. It wasn't meant to be. I have the greatest respect for you and your contributions here, so if you have felt slighted at any point I can only say it was unintentional.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

@Gawdzilla: I made a comment on one of your posts in another thread that, in retrospect, might have been seen as an insult. It wasn't meant to be. I have the greatest respect for you and your contributions here, so if you have felt slighted at any point I can only say it was unintentional.

Er, must have missed. Let the dead past bury its dead.

[Shiranu]

So when will the army, the state troopers, or whatever is supposed to represent the authorities, put an end to this circus?

They aren't even present at the site anymore; the "occupiers" are allowed to come and go as they please. Given that... not any time soon.

I realise the political shitstorm that was ensue but... I just cant imagine why the government would allow armed terrorists to hold a federal building with no backlash. This is the type of thing the full force of national guard should come down on.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The lunatics want to be martyred. They drool over another Ruby Ridge. Troops would be the worst response in this case. Disdain will infuriate them.

[stromboli]

The lunatics want to be martyred. They drool over another Ruby Ridge. Troops would be the worst response in this case. Disdain will infuriate them.

Much as I'd like to see some action, the present policy is the best. Let America get tired of these idiots and ffuck sakes, stop these idiots sending them food.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Much as I'd like to see some action, the present policy is the best. Let America get tired of these idiots and ffuck sakes, stop these idiots sending them food.

But please do keep sending them dildos.

[Unbeliever]

So when will the army, the state troopers, or whatever is supposed to represent the authorities, put an end to this circus?

They don't want a repeat of Waco, obviously. They should just be flipped the bird, and ignored, just as other protests are ignored. No need for riot gear, or tear gas, or night-sticks, or water canons, and all that stuff they also don't need in other protest situations.

I don't think of them as terrorists, as long as no one's been hurt or killed. They're just protesting in a manner that is unusual, and not gunning down civillians, or even harming the birds (I hope). Fortunately, those bird-watchers are probably keeping an eye on them.

[Unbeliever]

Er, must have missed. Let the dead past bury its dead.

It's too bad that's not what zombies do...