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Ozzy

SirKristoff is a poopiehead
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This article shows true human nature and it really makes me sick.



Rare Woodpecker Sends a Town Running for Its Chain Saws


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 24, 2006

BOILING SPRING LAKES, N.C., Sept. 23 (AP) — Over the past six months, landowners here have been clear-cutting thousands of trees to keep them from becoming homes for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.
The chain saws started in February, when the federal Fish and Wildlife Service put Boiling Spring Lakes on notice that rapid development threatened to squeeze out the woodpecker.The
agency issued a map marking 15 active woodpecker “clusters,” and announced it was working on a new one that could potentially designate whole neighborhoods of this town in southeastern North Carolina as protected habitat, subject to more-stringent building restrictions.Hoping
to beat the mapmakers, landowners swarmed City Hall to apply for lot-clearing permits. Treeless land, after all, would not need to be set aside for woodpeckers. Since February, the city has issued 368 logging permits, a vast majority without accompanying building permits.The
results can be seen all over town. Along the roadsides, scattered brown bark is all that is left of pine stands. Mayor Joan Kinney has watched with dismay as waterfront lots across from her home on Big Lake have been stripped down to sandy wasteland.
“It’s ruined the beauty of our city,” Ms. Kinney said. To stop the rash of cutting, city commissioners have proposed a one-year moratorium on lot-clearing permits.The
red-cockaded woodpecker was once abundant in the vast longleaf pine forests that stretched from New Jersey to Florida, but now numbers as few as 15,000. The bird is unusual among North American woodpeckers because it nests exclusively in living trees.
In a quirk of history, human activity has made this town of about 4,100 almost irresistible to the bird.Long
before there was a town, locals carved V-shaped notches in the pines, collecting the sap in buckets to make turpentine. These wounds allowed fungus to infiltrate the tree’s core, making it easier for the woodpecker to excavate its nest hole and probe for the beetles, spiders and wood-boring insects it prefers.
“And, voilà! You have a perfect woodpecker habitat,” said Dan Bell, project director for the Nature Conservancy in nearby Wilmington.The
woodpecker gouges a series of holes around the tree, creating “sap runs” to discourage the egg-gobbling black snake, the bird’s chief enemy. Because it can take up to six years to excavate a single nest hole, the birds fiercely defend their territory, said Susan Miller, a biologist for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “They’re passed from generation to generation, because it’s such a major investment in time to create one cavity,” Ms. Miller said.Like
Like the woodpeckers, humans are also looking to defend their neggs.Bonner
nner Stiller has been holding on to two wooded half-acre lakefront lots for 23 years. He stripped both lotslongleafleaf pines before the government could issue its new map.
“They have finally developed a value,” said Mr. Stiller, a Republican member of the state General Assembly. “And then to have that taken away from you?”
Landowners have overreacted, says Pete Benjamin, supervisor of the federal agency’s Raleoffice.Having
ving a woodpecker tree on a piece of property does not necessarily mean a house cannot be built there, Mr. Benjamin said. A landowner can even get permission to cut down a cavity tree, as long as an alternative habitat can be found.
“For the most part, we’ve found ways to work with most folks,” he said.
 
I looked up that Bonner Stiller, the General Assmbly member quoted about his land in the article. A Conservation Council of the North Carolina website called him an environmental champion and said, "Several freshmen legislators such as . . . Rep. Bonner Stiller (R-New Hanover) are already exercising effective leadership by sponsoring pro-environmental bills." According to his General Assembly website, he lives on E. Yacht Drive, Oak Island, NC, so his standard of living is probably secure even if his real estate speculation nets him a less money. Maybe he is an environmental champion relative to other politicians, but too many people think environmental protection is all about telling other people what they have to do or can't do. It has to begin at home and he fails the test.
 
I know the Bonner thing surprised me. I voted for him in the last election because he was the only politician fighting the landfills that they are trying to build here. He may just get a letter for me.
 
Wow that's horrible! Those poor birds :( Hey JLAP that would be cool if it was that bird you saw. Maybe they're all going to GA now :)
 
RAISE THEIR TAXES! RAISE THEM SKY HIGH! Only land that is tax deductable has 5 or more pines!
 
IM not sure I understand what is going on here. THey cut down trees to discourage the woodpeckers? Why??? Can someone summarize what is going on, not a very well written article.
 
To make it as simple as I can. The woodpeckers are federally listed, so if they are found nesting on your property, you can't disturb them.

People cut down all their trees so that they wouldn't be found on their property.
 
That is terrible. :( People are far too short sighted and definitely aren't thinking about what kind of world they are leaving for their grandchildren...
 
  • #10
I swear to GOD that I saw one of those on our deck a week a go. It looked JUST like the pictures from google images, identical! It's not supposed to be native to N. ga though ???

Looked just like this. http://a1410.g.akamai.net/f/1410/1633/7d/images.enature.com/birds/birds_l/BD0435_1l.jpg

Yeah, I see them going nuts on my tree all the time. At least I think its the same type.

You can always tell when they're up there because the weird call and pecking noise.

Years ago we use to have one that would peck the hell out of a metal street light post every morning. :crazy:
 
  • #11
Nepg; said:
IM not sure I understand what is going on here. They cut down trees to discourage the woodpeckers? Why Can someone summarize what is going on, not a very well written article.


To make it as simple as I can. The woodpeckers are federally listed, so if they are found nesting on your property, you can't disturb them.

People cut down all their trees so that they wouldn't be found on their property.


original article; said:
The agency issued a map marking 15 active woodpecker “clusters,” and announced it was working on a new one that could potentially designate whole neighborhoods of this town in southeastern North Carolina as protected habitat, subject to more-stringent building restrictions

In more detail, and a slightly different view, I reply: They cut down their trees so their area would no longer have a reason to be listed as one of these "clusters" as a protected habitat. Basically, they were protecting their right to do what ever the wanted to their land. If all the trees remained and the area was written off as a protected habitat, it would be VERY difficult if not impossible to do what they want on their own property. If you wanted to build a ... I don’t know... Greenhouse, extra house for your elderly mom and dad to live in, or garage but your land had trees everywhere, you're out of luck. I'd bet the house value would go down for those reasons too.

Without going back to the other topics to see who, isn't their a large group of folks here that think the government is trying to control too much already? But it's okay for them to tell you what you can do and cannot do on your property if it is to save a bird? ???

I'm not necessarily expressing my view, simply showing the other side.
 
  • #12
Land owners have been known to have people go over a property to remove endangered plants that could limit development. I think that's wrong too. In my opinion, a person's ability to squeeze every last cent out of a piece of land is less important than protecting habitat for endangered species. When a highway is built, residential property values fall next to the new highway and commercial property values can drop on the road bypassed. No one gets compensated unless their land is actually taken for the project. Many things government does on behalf of everyone hurt individuals but the loudest noise is always raised over environmental issues. Mostly because no one makes any serious money off them.
 
  • #13
...this reminds me of a poorly written conservation movie where the bad guys do completely irrational things to harm the ecosystem for...

'cept it's real life...
 
  • #14
People are bloody idiots... That article makes me want to throw up. Sick freaking people.
 
  • #15
Well the government is wrong being so rash declaring your land a "preserve" Im sure building a single house would not hinder the bird populations. I mean jeez, we live with squirrels everyday, I just think its an over-reaction on the goverment, which caused the people to freak out and do something completely irrational harming everyone.
 
  • #16
Well the government is wrong being so rash declaring your land a "preserve" Im sure building a single house would not hinder the bird populations. I mean jeez, we live with squirrels everyday, I just think its an over-reaction on the goverment, which caused the people to freak out and do something completely irrational harming everyone.

hahahah and squirrels cause more damage than a woodpecker, I would assume. I haven't heard of anyone complaining that a woodpecker used the inside of their car or insulation from their house as bedding. I wonder if they will replace those trees!
 
  • #17
I like woodpeckers. I think they're cute and if they were smart I bet they'd be friendly. Lol, I just woke up, sorry lmao.

Seriously though, It's BS that they'd cut down trees to screw over the peckers. We cut down trees when they are dead because they are ugly. We just did it last week come to think of it. But if we thought that some endangered species called it home we'd leave it alone unless it posed a danger to our house.
 
  • #18
I like woodpeckers. I think they're cute and if they were smart I bet they'd be friendly. Lol, I just woke up, sorry lmao.

Seriously though, It's BS that they'd cut down trees to screw over the peckers. We cut down trees when they are dead because they are ugly. We just did it last week come to think of it. But if we thought that some endangered species called it home we'd leave it alone unless it posed a danger to our house.

Oh definately! I wonder if there was a number posted of amount of trees that were destroyed. :( Another strike on our planet...
 
  • #19
line 'em up and shoot 'em all.

Chlorinate my gene pool, please - I don't need these low IQ's dragging me down.
 
  • #20
line 'em up and shoot 'em all.

Chlorinate my gene pool, please - I don't need these low IQ's dragging me down.

Amen. (Not promoting violence or hatred in any way, of course), Sadly, I don't usually blame the people because ... although it IS their fault they didn't do their own research... they usually believe what they hear from others. It should have been the job of Wildlife Resources to put out a public notice when they saw this was going to be a problem. IF nothing else, I am sure Marty Stouffer (sp?) had made a nature show about woodpeckers that they could have aired... *Sigh* Our poor poor planet. We are truly a virus to her and I hope that one day she doesn't just throw us up.
 
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