NANFA-- Klamath Basin Crisis Page

Jeffrey Fullerton (tcmajorr_at_westol.com)
Fri, 27 Jul 2001 17:32:54 -0400

http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/

> I visited that Klamath basin crisis page and saw stuff unrelated to the
> Klamath issue, and some of the same weird name-calling "eco-terrorist"
> lingo some folks and groups are so fond of throwing around. I guess their
> motive is to suggest that the issue is part of a bigger problem by
> associating unrelated issues. Clearly, though, they feel the rights of
> people to drive species to extinction are greater than the rights of the
> species to survive. Someone tell me again how the private sector is going
> to save animals from extinction?
>
To NANFans and other concerned parties.

It seems to be working in South Africa where ranchers are getting rid of
their cattle and converting their ranches into game preserves. As long
as we allow policy makers to force collective ownership of natural
resources on us we are headed for disaster. It didn't work with
industrial capital or human capital and it won't work with "natural
capital" either. As long as a resource is collectively owned there will
always be bitter discourse over how and who should use it.

I followed some of the links and found some interesting and disturbing
stuff. Especially the allegations of how well connected people are
getting to build summer homes in areas which private land owners are
being systematically driven out. Worth following up.

Also there was an editorial comment about how tighter land use
restrictions are more or less driving extraction based industries
overseas where restrictions are laxer and in many cases land is
controlled by the State which gives away the resources below fair market
value to attract industries to their shores. Also quite likely American
taxpayers will be called upon to clean up the environmental mess these
companies are sure to leave in their wake when they move on to greener
pastures. Al Gore's "Global Marshall Plan"?

The best way to get people to take better care of the planet is to allow
them to own a peice of it and reap profits from the sustainable
husbandry of that peice- be it agriculture, industry, homesteading, a
private nature preserve or recreation area. Owners who must make their
living from a resource base have incentives to make sure they will be
able to keep on making a living from it in contrast to nomads in Somolia
or the steppes of Mongolia. Or just look at the mess we uncovered in the
wake of the collapsing Soviet Bloc- which did not get the media
attention it really deserved.

Under communism the State owned all the natural resources and commanded
their use and denied anyone recourse to complain about pollution or
damage to the local ecosystems. Somehow, especially if priviledged
elites are being allowed to build private retreats on public lands at
taxpayer expense- I doubt a "Green" government will do much better and
even if they do suceed in returning North America to it's pristine
precolumbian majesty what good will it be to the majority of us if we
are penned up in government run high rises or barracks surrounded by
razor wire.

We don't have to purge the natural world of human influence in order to
save it. Letting market forces operate is more humane and more effective
at achieving conservation. And if private individuals were able to own
and propagate endangered species and manage their habitats for
commercial gain there would be less danger of loosing them.

There are probably several people in NANFA or the NFC who would love a
crack at breeding the Klamath sucker fishes that environmentalists and
property rights advocates are fighting over.

This will not go over well with everyone but as said before : all new
truths begin as heresy.

Jeff

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