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Show VIEWPOINTS A-23 www.parkrecord.com Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, May 27-30, 2017 EDITORIAL Memorial Day should be a time to celebrate and contemplate T GUEST EDITORIAL Ballot-box biology explained DAVE STALLING Writers on the Range Last year, a group of Montanans, including wildlife biologists and hunters, launched a ballot initiative that would have banned trapping on public lands. They called trapping barbaric because people’s pets, as well as threatened and endangered wildlife, inadvertently get killed in traps. Trappers responded with outrageous claims, charging that the initiative was backed by “out-of-state animal-rights extremists,” who were “uninformed about wildlife.” Opponents of trapping, they claimed, were “trying to destroy our way of life.” And this was just the beginning: “Once they stop trapping, they will come after hunting, and fishing, and ranching, and logging.” Many of my fellow hunters also defended trapping, repeating the same arguments. When it comes to predators like wolves or bears, it’s all black-and-white to some people. You’re either “one of us” or “one of them,” and there is little room for ra- The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Bubba Brown Angelique McNaughton Griffin Adams Contributing writers Tom Clyde Jay Meehan Teri Orr Amy Roberts Steve Phillips Tom Kelly Joe Lair Interns Jessica Curley Emily Billow Copy Editor Frances Moody ADVERTISING Classified advertising Jennifer Lynch Office manager Tiffany Rivera Circulation manager Lacy Brundy Accounting manager Jennifer Snow Advertising director Valerie Spung Advertising sales Lori Gull Jodi Hecker Erin Donnelly Lisa Curley Digital Products Manager Mike Boyko Photographer Tanzi Propst Production director Ben Olson Production Nadia Dolzhenko Patrick Schulz Linda Sites tional discussion; if you don’t agree with them, they attack with fervor. During the trapping debate, hunting organizations dusted off the “ballot-box biology” defense, saying that such decisions should be made by wildlife professionals whose opinions are based on science, not by citizens who are acting out of emotion. We hunters love to claim that our approach to wildlife management is based on science. And, of course, it should be, but too often it’s not. The Idaho Fish and Game Department conducts aerial shooting of wolves and sends bounty hunters into wilderness areas to eliminate wolf packs despite what we know about wolf behavior, ecology and biology. That’s not management based on science. Throughout the West, we continue to carry out a war on coyotes and wolves despite overwhelming scientific evidence that such actions disrupt the social and breeding behavior of these animals and can, ironically, result in even larger numbers of coyotes and wolves. That’s not management based on science. Colorado proposed a ban on the baiting of bears, based on scientific evidence that the baiting of bears was having negative impacts by habituating bears to human handouts and changing their natural habits. The state’s chief bear biologist penned a piece in support of the baiting ban for Outdoor Life. Before it was published (and before anyone even read it) hunters and hunting organizations rallied against Outdoor Life and successfully prevented the publication of the piece. Two editors left their jobs over the incident. That’s not management based on science. Wildlife management decisions are often based on public needs and desires, and that should be part of the process. But sometimes those needs and desires go against science. Trappers, hunters and the agricultural industry have a lot of power over state legislatures and wildlife management. One consequence is that other citizens feel left out of the decision-making, and are often ridiculed and attacked by hunters and trappers. Our system, with all its tremendous achievements, has flaws, and those flaws can lead us closer to animal husbandry than science-based wildlife management. A report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the flaws of the North American model of wildlife management summed it up this way: “Wildlife management conducted in the interest of hunters can lead to an overabundance of animals that people like to hunt, such as deer, and the extermination of predators that also provide a vital balance to the ecosystem.” For the record his Memorial Day weekend, in between passing plates of hamburgers and potato salad, we hope local families will take time to think about the men and women who fought in our country’s Armed Services. Too many of them lost their lives actively protecting our freedoms and lavish lifestyles to be forgotten. This year, as the prospect of global conflict looms once again, it is especially important to remember those sacrifices. As our neophyte leaders are beginning to realize, our nation’s security is based on a precarious network of global alliances, many of which were forged on bloody battlefields in the hopes the world would never see another war. On Memorial Day, as we decorate the graves of veterans from Park City, Coalville, Kamas and throughout Summit County, we would do well to expand our sense of patriotism beyond our borders and recommit ourselves to that endeavor. To do so, we must also instill the lessons of history in our children. Thanks in large part to to the soldiers who fought overseas, very few young Americans have felt the horror of war firsthand. They have never seen the devastation their counterparts in some parts of the world live with every day. As parents and teachers, it is our responsibility to ensure the next generation comprehends the difference between a video game battle and a real one, and that they understand the price our Armed Forces pay each day to keep their country safe. Memorial Day offers a perfect opportunity to reinforce the values of courage and sacrifice. It is a good reminder for all of us that the drumbeat of political rhetoric has consequences, something our forefathers knew all too well. As part of Monday’s commemoration, flags should be flown at half-mast until noon. Citizens are also asked to participate in a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. On Monday, the Park City post of the American Legion will hold a ceremony at 9 a.m. at the cemetery on Kearns Boulevard. There will also be a series of similar services at each cemetery in North Summit beginning in Wanship at 8 a.m. and ending in Coalville at noon. GUEST EDITORIAL Don’t just stand there, do something CARLA WISE My first thought, on entering the hall, was, “Wow, she doesn’t look like an endowed-chair environmental law professor.” This was back in the fall of 2006, when I went to hear Mary Christina Wood speak. She was about my age, with long chestnut hair, a warm expression, and no makeup. I’ve since marveled that I was even there that night. I live in a college town, and good talks are not unusual. But I had a young daughter at the time, and this may have been the only evening lecture I attended that entire year. Wood, also the mother of young children, was eloquent. She understood in a way I was just starting to grasp that climate change, if left unchecked, would soon threaten the health, safety and life support systems of our own kids, as well as that of future generations and everything else in the natural world. I left the lecture hall deeply shaken. Three things I remember clearly: First, I was impressed with her moral clarity. Second, in an answer to a question about what to do about the approaching climate crisis, she said, “Do something, do anything, just don’t do nothing.” And third, I remember that I lay awake that night, fearing for my daughter’s future. In an effort to compel the government to protect the climate on behalf of present and future generations, Wood was developing a legal theory based on the “public trust doctrine.” I had heard of this doctrine when I worked on water issues in national parks. But I don’t believe anyone had tried to apply it to the earth’s atmosphere before. The basic idea is that the government has a responsibility to protect vital natural resources for the benefit of all. By allowing polluters to destroy a stable climate, the government is failing to do its duty, and the courts can compel the government to act. It seemed like an elegant argument. At that moment, I was contemplating a career change, from conservation biologist to environmental writer. I contacted Wood, interviewed her and wrote one of my first stories, “Climate Revolutionary: Creating a legal framework for saving our planet,” which was published in High Country News on May 12, 2008. I have no doubt that encountering Mary Wood helped inspire me to become a climate writer and, in time, a climate activist. Meanwhile, Wood wrote a book, Nature’s Trust: Environmental Law for a New Ecological Age, developing her legal theory. Her work provides the theoretical foundation for the global litigation approach advanced by an organization called “Our Children’s Trust.” It works with youth across the country and around the world to bring legal action to compel governments to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and stabilize the climate system. Just two days after this year’s election, a group of 21 young Americans won the right in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, to sue the fossil-fuel industry and the U.S. government based on Wood’s approach. According to U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, these young people have the right to seek the protection of the climate on behalf of all youth and future generations. Similar lawsuits are being brought in other states and countries as well. As for me, one thing led to another. Replaying Wood’s words, “Do something, do anything, just don’t do nothing,” started a shift in my heart and my head. I began learning and writing more about climate change. In time, this led me to writing a book about responding to climate change and becoming a volunteer climate activist. Today, I spend a large portion of my time lobbying for a carbon fee and dividend law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So this is a story about how a lucky meeting changed my life. It is also a story about how one woman — an extraordinary environmental law professor — has influenced the world. This doesn’t take into account all the other ways she may have changed lives. So this is really a lesson about hope. The only lesson I learned from Donald Trump’s election is that we cannot ever know the future. All the professional pundits predicted he would lose, and many of us believed them. I think I finally understand that there is absolutely no way to know what will happen tomorrow or next week or next year. But it is possible to look back and see the small choices that mattered, to realize you never know where they may lead. So my advice is to do something, do anything, just don’t do nothing. This is the only way to plant seeds that might — just might — grow into progress toward a world in which our children can survive and thrive. Carla Wise is a contributor to Writers on the Range, the opinion service of High Country News (hcn.org). She lives and writes in Oregon. I recently heard a hunter who makes hunting videos criticize the “animal rights extremists” who file lawsuits to protect wolves, claiming such lawsuits go against “sound, scientific management” and our “North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.” Those citizens filed those lawsuits in response to states doing things such as gunning down wolves from helicopters and sending in bounty hunters to eliminate packs in wilderness areas. That’s not management based on science. The executive director of a large, influential hunting organization has repeatedly called wolves “the worst ecological disaster since the decimation of bison,” and claims wolves and grizzly bears are “annihilating” our elk herds. That’s also not promoting management based on science. That leads me to think that some of these ballot initiatives are, indeed, “ballot-box biology,” in the sense that they defend and demand good science when state wildlife agencies won’t. Hunters and trappers are their own worst enemies. When they defend the indefensible — the deaths of family pets and threatened and endangered species from traps set on public lands — and attack other citizens for having legitimate concerns, they just the way lead to more ballot-box biology. Dave Stalling is a contributor to Writers on the Range, the opinion service of High Country News (hcn.org). He is a hunter, angler and writer living in Missoula, Montana, and past president and field organizer for the Montana Wildlife Federation. Writers on the Range Photos by Tanzi Propst Asked at Hugo Coffee What does Memorial Day mean to you? Brandi Rainey Lindsay Simpson & Erika Schultz Salt Lake City Park City “It means summertime to me. I think “Being thankful for our veterans and for our freedom. Now Memorial Day, as a mom, reminds that I’m a mom, selfishly it’s getting to spend time with my me to set my intention for the sumfamily.” - Simpson mer — spending time with my kids “Remembering those who lost their lives and being thankand being outside. It’s our first family ful for that. Both my grandfathers fought ... Also, taking picnic that we go on for the year.” that extra day to be outside.” Schultz Chris Probert Park City “Honoring veterans and getting outside. I’m staying away from the crowds this year.” Alan Trieu Park City “There’s the whole military side of it for me. I have some military in the family. But it’s also a long weekend, so I get to go camping, which is great.” Molly Miller Park City “We’ll be participating in the Park City High School National Honors Society’s Memorial Day 5K run on Monday. It’s really an opportunity to say thank you to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us.” See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord and instagram.com/parkrecord |