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TODAY Monday 2 March 1998 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
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TODAY Monday 2 March 1998 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
TODAY IN THE WORLD: Our Friends the Duck Killers
There may be a million vegetarian bird lovers, of whom a significant fraction may be passionate about the preservation of duck habitats, but the people you really rely on in that business are the hunters. Men and women (men, mostly) who hide in wet cold places for the privilege of blasting waterfowl from the sky constitute the most important citizen force for the preservation of North American wetlands, which, in turn, are crucial for the preservation of North American biodiversity.
The leading duck hunter organization is Ducks Unlimited, which last week announced that it had saved a total of 8 million acres since the group's inception in 1937. Eight million acres is an area bigger than Maryland. I know this because I received a press release with the big duck head logo from DU national headquarters on One Waterfowl Way. "The pure products of America go crazy," said William Carlos Williams, and these guys, though far from crazy, seem both very American and endearingly loopy in their unembarrassed duckophilia. They say that there are now 97 million migratory ducks on the continent, so who can argue?
Respectable people with focused passions can accomplish much in American politics and society. When those passions include both love of nature and love of hunting, and when those who are passionate contribute money and energy to the public representation of their cause -- well, they are a force more powerful than those of us who share only one of those passions.
There is a class issue at work here, of course. Duck hunters are your better sort of animal killers. As a rule, they tend to be richer and better educated than deer hunters, and more adept at marketing themselves and influencing public opinion. When did you ever hear about a duck hunter with a six pack killing a cow? Environmentalists -- a genteel lot themselves -- can more easily make common cause with the duck people than with the deer people. They also tend to be comfortable with fly fishers, whose Trout Unlimited has done great work protecting rivers and streams.
There are two political alliances without which environmentalists become marginalized. One is the alliance with public health. The other is with hunting and fishing.
TODAY ON THE SITE
Many of you actually make up your mind on public issues from a basis other than crass political calculation. You may care about the mallard shot from the sky at least as much as you care about the marsh into which he falls. For a guided tour of the best Websites on the complex issues of animal protection, look into the excellent work of Ron Kroese in our High Fives section.
Recent "Today" columns:
2/27: Trust El Nino
2/26: That Darn Triple-A
2/25: Cutting a Deal on Endangered Species
2/24: Fire? Again?
2/23: Garbage
2/20: Population Rebellion in the Sierra Club
2/19: The Trouble With Cattle
2/18: Optimistic Feds and the Future of Kyoto
2/17: The New Great Game
2/13: Windmills
2/12: Stuart Eizenstat's Smart Bomb
2/11: Alligator in the Coal Mine
2/10: Inconvenient Public Opinion
2/9: Remember Penn Station
2/6: Adam Smith and Automobile Efficiency
2/5: Clean Water, Naturally
2/4: Roll, Storms, Roll
2/3: Land Purchase Fever
2/2: Groundhog Day in the Persian Gulf
1/30: Trees and Hormones
1/29: Things To Come (2)
1/28: Things To Come
1/27: 'Bye, 'Bye Brazil
1/26: Jaywalking and Jaydriving
1/23: Good Biotech, Bad Biotech
1/22: No More Roads
1/21: Swordfish
To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.