Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Nov. 10, 1999, edition 1 / Page 11
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while, the swans have moved in to fill the vacancy - finding the lake and the surrounding farms to their liking. What to do about the changes is a puzzle that neither Man ning nor the managers at Mattamuskeet can solve for sure. At the Hart Mountain Na tional Antelope Refuge in Or egon, Manning found another dilemma. The land set aside for antelopes also contains a strong population of coyotes who feed on young antelopes. If the coyotes are unchecked, they might completely destroy the antelope population. But when the managers of the ref uge began to kill some of the coyotes, -groups of animal lov ers protested and closed down the program. How much should man in tervene to protect cine species fyy killing another? Manning leaves the question with the wildlife managers - where it remains unanswered. They just keep doing the best they can, imperfectly, but ef fectively. ’ Manning’s unanswered questions are part of his book’s appeal. He is patient with the people of good will who dis agree about the best way to respond to man’s pressures on wildlife. He quoted with approval the management principle of Dr. Sam Pearsall, the director of science of the North Carolina chapter of The Nature Conser vancy. It is called the “science of muddling through.” “It says that the best deci sions are made by people who operate on the information at hand to make decisions that seem to move them in the right direction and that foreclose as few options as possible.” Pearsall’s skepticism of in flexible comprehensive solu tions to the challenges of wild life preservation and Manning’s tolerance of the competing ideas might be good lessons for us and our political leaders as we wrestle with the challenge of growth and other tough problems in our local communities. Martin Continued From Page 4-A watching masses of wild birds or animals in their natural habitat. Manning’s skills at de scribing nature have been honed in previous “walk ; through the woods” books like “Afoot in the South.” He can take you places with words and make you see what is going on there. But “Islands of Hope” is not just a nature book. At each of the ten wildlife preserves Man ning probes to find out what works. How big does a pre riserve need to be? Once the pre serve is established, should mjm simply let nature take its course? Or should there be enough intervention to be sure that “nature” doesn’t destroy the species we want to pro tect? Does a wildlife preserve have a responsibility to foster the preservation of other spe cies and to promote bio-diver sity? How do preserves re spond to changes outside their boundaries? Manning wrestles with these questions at all ten preserves. For instance, Lake Mattamuskeet in east ern North Carolina once served as a preserve prima rily for Canada geese. But fewer geese come each year, and tundra swans have taken their places. Why? And what, if anything, should be done about it? The decline in geese is influ enced by the new availability of grain on farms near the Chesapeake Bay - enticing the migrating geese to stop, and feed, and stay and forget about going further south to Mat tamuskeet. Too much hunting of the geese as they fly back and forth from Canada may also have had an impact. Mean Decide Continued From Page 4-A reason is compounding. Compounding also applies to government finance, where a little change can make a big difference. Consider the debate over So cial Security’s future. Many forecasts show the Social Se curity Trust Fund bankrupt within the next 25 years. But if the inputs to these forecasts are just tweaked in a small way, for example by decreasing the average unemployment rate by a tenth of a percentage point or increasing the economic growth rate by a similar amount, Social Security can be solvent .for another 100 years. How is this possible? The answer again” the power, of compounding. Sense Continued From Page 4-A need for more public works, such as sewage and water treatment facilities. These fa cilities, sometimes located in flood plains, have had major waste spillage during storms. After Hurricane Fran in 1996, Triangle sewage treatment plants dumped 120 million gal lons of raw sewage into local streams and rivers. Two weeks after Hurricane Floyd came through the state, 14 sewage -treatment plants remained Under water. Similarly, 50 hog lagoons were flooded after Hurricane -Floyd. Nonpoint source pollu tion, caused by rainfall wash ing chemicals over and through the ground into wa terways, accounts for 96 per cent of all pollution in NC s streams and rivers. Of that to tal, agriculture is responsible for 67 percent. Unfortunately, the state does not have enough inspectors to guarantee that pork producers are in compli ance with the regulations. 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The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Nov. 10, 1999, edition 1
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