[TN-Bird] 'Sang, revisited
- From: Charlie <cmmbirds@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Bird <TN-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:57:05 -0800 (PST)
Hi Folks,
Ok, so now you get to see just how far behind on email I am...
remember WAY BACK to last week when there were a bunch of posts on
Ginseng and grouse and turkeys? Well I just read them. Some
excellent posts on several related topics, from the history of the
forests by Ken Hale, to the human aspect by Wallace, to the shorter,
more to the point posts (results of berry going through turkey is
equal to berry going through grouse; this is the edge of the range
for grouse, etc.)
I have one more point to add.
Last year I know of at least 2 instances where poachers were caught
in Great Smoky MOuntains National Park with OVER 100 POUNDS each of
Ginseng roots. Imagine how many roots it takes to add up to that
weight. This isn't even the whole plant. The plant was dug up, and
most of it discarded. This is not your "my people have been doing
this for generations". This was black market for profit. I don't
know anything about the background of these guys - maybe they've been
here for generations, maybe they moved here the week before. But
they sure knew how to find the plant (I challenge ANY TN-birder to
find that much 'sang...)
I assure you those 2 guys did more damage than every turkey in the
park. And how many times did they do it before they got caught? How
many other plant poachers never get caught? Next time you're worried
about the number of individuals of a species you care for, think
about lobbying for better protection in the form of more NPS rangers,
more TWRA officers, more research...
By the way, I've seen more grouse than turkeys in the park in my 2.5
years. At Cades Cove and Cataloochee the trend is reversed. But
overall, I've had probably 5 or 6 times as many Grouse sightings as
turkey sightings. This is probably more a result of my
habits/luck/observational skills than it is anything scientifically
valid, but I think it's worth something.
And as someone alluded to, there is some research being performed on
the southeastern population of grouse. I believe that at least one
UT grad student is involved in it. Perhaps Jim or Chuck can comment
on that?
Charlie
=====
**************************************************
Charlie Muise, Senior Naturalist
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont
Townsend, TN lat 35 deg, 38'23" long 83 deg, 41'22"
"Up, Sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough"
- Ben Frankline, Poor Richard's Almanac
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958
=========================================================
Other related posts:
- » [TN-Bird] 'Sang, revisited
