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Subject: "RE: A story about a creek" Previous topic | Next topic
swimbaitTue Jan-19-10 05:03 PM
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#11594, "RE: A story about a creek"
In response to In response to 6


  

          

I'm listening. And I'm really not some person who sits around hating native species or loving dams. There are dams in this state that should be taken down, like you point out. Matilija dam is one (silted in and pointless). Years ago I fished for real native trout way up that creek. What a cool place. I'm all for places like that. Places like that should be catch and release only, barbless hooks and should be very much protected since they are still pretty close to their natural state (minus the dam blocking the steelhead).

Some things I view as givens though:

1. There will be dams on most rivers in CA
2. There are a lot of introduced fish in the man-made lakes in this state
3. Getting rid of those species would be a bunch of work with little benefit.
4. Dams do (and have done) the vast majority of damage to native fish, bird, and amphibian populations in this state when compared with non-natives.

If we take those things as givens it makes efforts like the Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit to stop trout stocking seem misguided. Stocked rainbow trout aren't the problem. Dams are the problem. If you want to dig deeper, the number of human beings in this state is the problem. A line of causation looks like this:

There are less red legged frogs in San Pablo Creek --Why?--> There is a Dam on the creek --Why?--> EBMUD wanted to store water --Why?--> People need water for drinking and irrigation --Why?--> There are a lot of people living around the Bay Area

People like the Stanford law students who filed the lawsuit for the Center for Biological Diversity probably feel warm and fuzzy inside, thinking that they have done something wonderful for the frogs. My opinion is that they are putting a band aid on an amputated leg. You can put band aids on amputated legs but it doesn't help. In fact it might make it worse, which I also happen to think is the case here. A bunch of bass, catfish, ospreys, and cormorants that don't have planted trout to eat any more are going to be hungrily looking for things to eat - like frogs and tadpoles.

By losing focus on the big picture and real root causes for declines in native species, bad decisions are made that do worse than just limiting recreational opportunities. I'm mad about the loss of recreational opportunities! But I'm also mad about the lack of holistic thinking on the part of the people who've made these decisions about stocked trout, quagga mussels, and migratory birds. IMO, they are doing things for the sake of doing things, not for intelligent reasons.

I hope some day the quagga fear mongers and the rainbow trout-a-phobes will be lumped in to same bin of misguided thinkers as the people who killed cats during the Great Plague and the people who killed the wolves in Yellowstone.

What I'm getting at with all of this is simply that if we have dams and bass and trout and launch ramps and picnic tables, we may as well enjoy them. We could poison the lakes, close them down to people and conduct bird watching tours (looking at birds that would never have lived there if the lake wasn't there) or let people jog around a distant perimeter. But even if we do all that, what will the benefit be? A few warm fuzzy law student hearts?

Let's keep the conversation going. I respect your opinion Ryan because you've been educated as a biologist and you've spent enough time outdoors to know what you are talking about. These kind of issues will be the big issues affecting fishing in this state for many years to come so let's discuss.

  

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A story about a creek [View all] , swimbait, Sun Jan-17-10 09:42 PM
  RE: A story about a creek, MountainBass, Jan 18th 2010, #1
RE: A story about a creek, mteman, Jan 19th 2010, #2
      RE: A story about a creek, MountainBass, Jan 19th 2010, #3
           RE: A story about a creek, MountainBass, Jan 19th 2010, #4
                RE: A story about a creek, swimbait, Jan 19th 2010, #5
                     RE: A story about a creek, MountainBass, Jan 19th 2010, #6
                          RE: A story about a creek, swimbait, Jan 19th 2010 #7
                               RE: A story about a creek, Marcus, Jan 19th 2010, #8
                               RE: A story about a creek, MountainBass, Jan 19th 2010, #10
                               RE: A story about a creek, Nico, Jan 19th 2010, #11
                               RE: A story about a creek, Bassin, Jan 19th 2010, #9
                                    RE: A story about a creek, swimbait, Jan 19th 2010, #12

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