The following article appeared in the "Access To Energy" monthly newsletter, September 2000, issue (Vol. 28, no.2). It's publisher and editor is Dr. Arthur B. Robinson, President and Research Professor, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. Dr. Robinson has given us permission to reprint it here and in our federation newsletter.
While this initiative is being voted on in Oregon it is important to be aware of legislation being proposed in other states so that we can be ready when similar bills or initiatives are presented in Missouri.
The voters of Oregon, who have earlier approved measures that effectively stopped the hunting of cougars and bears in Oregon, will be voting this November on an "anti-trapping" initiative that would effectively ban all trapping in the state -- including mouse traps.
Meanwhile, the earlier petitions and votes of these worthies - mostly concentrated in the socialist encampment known as Portland - have produced a state-wide population explosion in cougars and bears along with a sharp drop in the deer population.
Our sheep are now living in a feedlot next to the barn rather than in our fields because the threat of cougars is so high. Yesterday, a local veterinarian was describing her treatment of a 300-pound pot bellied pig that is the backyard pet of one of our neighbors. The veterinarian said that, since the pig lives in their back yard, she was surprised the cougars had not killed it as yet.
Bears are becoming a special problem for the local vineyards, where large numbers of them congregate to graze on the grapes.
We think that the responsibility for caring for these politically correct animals should rest on the shoulders of all socially responsible citizens - on a per-capita basis. The catching of several thousand cougars and their release into downtown Portland and surrounding suburbs would go a long way toward solving several problems.
