[NatureNS] Canada's position on at-risk species 'unprecedented'

From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
References: <CAA9nSY98EE_D0Q5cMRXmigOTk=OizhzhZSbC4tVO04fbjwEjNg@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 13:10:35 -0400
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects

Index of Subjects
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_442F_01D01543.D9CAC0C0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Hi Rick & All,
    I am baffled by the notion that discussion might not be useful.=20

    No doubt it is not possible to flick a switch and correct such =
problems. But why avoid discussion ?=20

    One rather large hydra has as usual many heads but only one body; a =
civil service which has become threadbare as a result of attrition and, =
in some cases, never furnished with the necessary resources to do the =
mandated job in the first place; a large number of electric motors with =
the copper windings removed and sold for scrap. =20

      Battles are now lost on a regular basis all for the want of a =
horseshoe nail and/or an ounce of common sense and the updating of =
regulations that have long since passed their best before date.

    Amherst, due to public pressure,  turned down $500,000 for disposal =
of fracking water after being purified to drinking water standards. Why =
? Largely because the public is rightly skeptical of industry =
assurances. Without government funded science, which is absolutely free =
of any pressure and consequently able to act as a reliable way to =
confirm or reject assurances by industry one can expect mob rule, =
informed by misinformation, to become commonplace. And this can only =
lead to economically destructive decisions.

    In any case, a back of envelope calculation showed the potential =
dilution to be astronomical so there should never have been a fuss. But =
when democracy is used to establish the value of pi then 21 people who =
prefer 3 will beat 20 who say it is about 3.14159.

    The same considerations apply to the Alton gas storage project now =
stalled, partly because there is a concern about adding Sodium to the =
ocean. Huh ?? If the company were to release their water, following the =
schedule which they propose, I really don't understand how there could =
be a problem. If done by instant feedback, mixing and release or =
shutdown could be automated. Once again, objective oversight by =
government funded science would avoid these foolish and destructive =
shouting matches.=20

    About 10 years ago someone on the South Shore developed a way to =
trap and use a truly invasive species of crab (Green crab I think and =
used for Lobster bait) .He was fined for fishing Green Crabs without a =
licence and lost his means of earning a living when he should have been =
given some reward. But by the same agency he was denied a licence =
because it was not an established fishery so they could not issue one. A =
trace of common sense in the enforcement of regulations would =
predictably lead to better outcomes.

    Some years ago the fur industry sleep walked into a Phosphate =
pollution problem. This could never have happened if anyone involved in =
advising this industry had known the first thing about the behavior of =
Phosphate in soil and in waterways. After more than a decade I am not =
sure that the "problem" has yet been solved. There is no substitute for =
direct access to lab resources as opposed to reading the 'how to do it' =
guide, often written by someone who has never done it. The only really =
reliable teacher is ground truth.

    And, finally, on a personal level, a sad story of a stalled =
transaction which shows how we are heading. When I bought a woodlot in =
1971 the widow who was selling it had never seen it so I had to make a =
few phone calls one evening to find someone who could tell me how to =
find it, I searched the title back 100 years and this took about an hour =
plus a nominal fee. She arranged for someone to walk the lines with me =
and within a week I had the deed, registered for a nominal fee, and she =
had her money.=20
    I received and accepted an offer to sell that lot on Aug 7 of this =
year. The buyer had cash set aside and was ready to fork it over. But it =
is still stalled in Migration. And cost of migration will likely exceed =
the initial cost by a wide margin. The familiar problem; set up a =
gold-plated system, provide inadequate resources to administer it and =
let the public be dammed.
    Shortly after I bought the North Alton woodlot in 1981 I checked the =
ownership of one adjacent lot on an orthophoto map at some county =
planning office and noticed that my lot had the name of someone who had =
never owned it. When I asked to have the name corrected I was told that =
they could not correct it because funds for that program had been cut =
and not to worry because their maps don't mean anything anyway. =20

End of rant for now.
DW
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey" Oliver Goldsmith

   =20

   =20

   =20

  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Rick Whitman=20
  To: naturens=20
  Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2014 7:16 AM
  Subject: [NatureNS] Canada's position on at-risk species =
'unprecedented'


  =
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/canada/1256985-canada's-position-on-at-r=
isk-species-'unprecedented'



  Perhaps this should just be read on its own merit. You may draw your =
own conclusions. Discussion here might not be useful.


  Best,
  Rick Whitman
  No virus found in this message.
  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
  Version: 2015.0.5577 / Virus Database: 4235/8712 - Release Date: =
12/10/14

------=_NextPart_000_442F_01D01543.D9CAC0C0
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META name=3DGENERATOR content=3D"MSHTML 8.00.6001.23588">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>Hi Rick &amp; All,</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I am baffled by the notion that discussion might =
not be=20
useful. </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No doubt it is not possible to flick a switch =
and=20
correct such problems. But why avoid discussion ? </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One rather large&nbsp;hydra has as usual =
many heads=20
but only one body; a civil service&nbsp;which has become threadbare as a =
result=20
of attrition and, in some cases, never furnished with the necessary =
resources to=20
do the mandated job in the first place; a large number of electric =
motors with=20
the copper windings removed and sold for scrap. &nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Battles are now lost on a regular =
basis&nbsp;all=20
for the want of a horseshoe nail and/or an ounce of common sense and the =

updating of regulations that have long since passed their best before=20
date.</DIV>
<DIV>&nb