Friday, October 08, 2010
Backward bounty
News item:
When I saw the headline my first semi-conscious thought was "Well, about time! They're offering a bounty for wolves again."
Nope, it's the opposite. They're offering a bounty for the person who killed the wolf, for the man who defended people and property from a well-known predator.
At one time in the dim distant past, the territory north of Mexico was occupied by a country known as America. In this barely remembered country, people were encouraged to own property and farmers were encouraged to grow crops and livestock. In this barely remembered legendary place, the government helped to protect livestock from predators, and helped to protect crops from bugs. In this ancient and mysterious land, the government built dams and levees and irrigation systems so farmers could turn barren land into a breadbasket for the world.
Since 1988 this territory has been occupied by a monstrous Pol Pot-style tyranny where the government arrests farmers for growing crops or raising livestock or killing bugs or shooting predators, where the government rips out dams and shuts down irrigation systems while simultaneously building dams and irrigation systems for enemy nations.
None of the dystopian authors of the past, from Swift to Butler to Orwell, imagined a country like this. None of them imagined a country where breathing is actually illegal. ¶ 2:22 PM
A $2,500 reward is being offered for information about the death of a federally protected male gray wolf that was found Sept. 30 in the Umatilla National Forest in northeast Oregon.
The reward is being offered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The 2-year-old wolf was wearing a radio collar and was a member of the Wenaha pack.
It had been captured and fitted with the collar in August. Investigators for the service said that the cause of death has not been determined. Wolves are protected as endangered under both state statues and the federal Endangered Species Act. Killing an animal protected under the federal ESA is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000, one year in jail, or both. Killing a wolf also is a violation of Oregon state game law, with fines and penalties assessed by the court.
When I saw the headline my first semi-conscious thought was "Well, about time! They're offering a bounty for wolves again."
Nope, it's the opposite. They're offering a bounty for the person who killed the wolf, for the man who defended people and property from a well-known predator.
At one time in the dim distant past, the territory north of Mexico was occupied by a country known as America. In this barely remembered country, people were encouraged to own property and farmers were encouraged to grow crops and livestock. In this barely remembered legendary place, the government helped to protect livestock from predators, and helped to protect crops from bugs. In this ancient and mysterious land, the government built dams and levees and irrigation systems so farmers could turn barren land into a breadbasket for the world.
Since 1988 this territory has been occupied by a monstrous Pol Pot-style tyranny where the government arrests farmers for growing crops or raising livestock or killing bugs or shooting predators, where the government rips out dams and shuts down irrigation systems while simultaneously building dams and irrigation systems for enemy nations.
None of the dystopian authors of the past, from Swift to Butler to Orwell, imagined a country like this. None of them imagined a country where breathing is actually illegal. ¶ 2:22 PM
