“Conservatives” (hardly) are relentless.

www.birddigiscoper.com: Wisconsin takes another step backwards

At 12:01am this morning the Republican controlled state Senate passed an anti-wetlands bill that ought to be ethically reprehensible to every birder and nature advocate in Wisconsin. More than window and tower collisions, feral cat predation, chemical spills, illegal hunting, poisoning, and most everything else, the primary reason for the decline of bird populations is habitat loss. For a lover of birds, this will be a tremendously damaging piece of legislation.

Sadly, this bill will dramatically weaken restrictions for developing on wetlands. So as the right-wing mantra goes, we are open for business and [BLEEP] all else. How short-sighted some of us are by failing to fully consider that our long-term survivability ultimately depends on the health of the earth, its habitat, and fragile ecosystems.

Apart from the intrinsic value our wetlands provide to birds and other wildlife, a recent study found that Wisconsin’s wetlands are worth billions in services and benefits each year. However, I’m aware of at least one right-wing nature photographer who prefers to embrace ignorance, ambiguity, and inaction rather than accept science and facts and figures, so take the report with a healthy skeptical attitude.

Most prevalent in today’s media, conservatives are quick to criticize and denounce government as the underlying problem with just about everything, but there’s a reason why Wisconsin has such wonderful natural treasures rich in biodiversity; it’s because they’ve traditionally been protected by our state government. I was painfully aware that once conservatives gained control of our political processes that they would eventually go after the environment; it’s endemic to their nature to ignore the needs of Nature.

© 2012 Mike McDowell

www.birddigiscoper.com: Wisconsin takes another step backwards