‘Eagles don’t pay taxes, I pay taxes’

Just in case you were wondering if humanity is ultimately doomed on this planet, leaving it for monkeys and dolphins to rule, well, here’s a tasty quote from a man who personifies the “We’re not bright enough to survive as a species” attitude, prevelant in so many.

“Eagles don’t pay taxes; I pay taxes. I’m paying taxes, and I can’t do anything with the property.”

– Minnesota retiree Edmund Contoski, upset that the health of a species has been put ahead of his interest in developing his property.

Here’s more from the story below. With the current attitude of many, it’s likely the bald eagle will be back on the endangered species list in six months. Of course, it’s also likely the endangered species list may cease to exist itself.

Bald eagle soaring ‘success,’ but at what cost?

(CNN) — The bald eagle is officially about to become a “conservation success story” for the U.S. government, which has worked for more than three decades to help the national symbol recover from habitat destruction, illegal shooting and contamination of its food source.

By June 29, the government is expected to take bald eagles off the Endangered Species Act’s “threatened” list. The birds then would be protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

But Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity conservation group said this victory comes at a price — loss of eagle habitat protection.

The bird’s nesting grounds were protected as long as the bald eagle was considered a “threatened” species. But the less restrictive eagle protection act does not put eagle habitats off-limits.

Suckling said he worries that without habitat protection, developers will move into critical bald eagle areas, push the birds out and reduce their numbers.

“There is big money to be made in cutting down and developing bald eagle habitat,” he said.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibits anyone without a permit from “taking” bald eagles, including their parts, nests and eggs. Its definition of “take” includes: pursuit, shooting, shooting at, poisoning, wounding, killing, capturing, trapping, collecting, molesting and disturbing.

“For the most part, it’s a shooting and hunting statute,” said Nicholas Throckmorton of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Read the rest of the story here.

Extra Reading

–WKW

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