Today we accept, like dumb animals, the assertion that there is only one "right" environmental mix of plants and animals for any particular piece of ground. We further accept the notion that such mix is only attainable through the exclusion of all human presence and all human activities. We further accept the incredible falsehood that we should accept the death and injury of humans by mountain lions, the loss of livestock and pets by wolves, the death of African women and children by crocodiles, the trampling of African children and crops by elephants, etc. because "we" are in "their" habitat. Only this morning a news article said, "the primary reason for increased bear-human interaction is the encroachment of humans on bear habitat." If you give this one moment of serious thought you can only conclude that such a statement is bizarre. Animals and plants should be managed in such ways that their conflicts with man are minimized or eliminated. They can and should (as societal interests and wherewithal allows) be maintained in healthy populations where people can see them, use them, and where they do not conflict with other human interests like fisheries or recreational uses.

There is one ironclad fact in all this myth-making about "native" this and "invasive" that; that is that we can maintain almost any environment we desire. Like art, our environment reflects "life and human society." Today when our ability to construct an environment of millions of mini-environments was never greater we retreat into druidic cocoons and forbid all to touch the environment like some sacred oak containing mistletoe.

Instead of developing energy resources in the most environmentally friendly ways, we increasingly smother human activities from recreation to road and home building. Instead of supporting our rural communities and assisting the poor in 3rd world nations, we deny them the environmental development that has made us and the Europeans and certain of their former colonies the richest and freest nations on earth. Instead of looking to the future, we look to the past and assure our return to societies that our forefathers gave their lives and sweat to leave behind.

This is perpetrated on the lie that there is but one "native" environment and all others are "out of balance." Because of this lie we tolerate the Endangered Species Act and the UN CITES authority. Because of this we have made US public lands Federal fiefdoms more dangerous to the community than medieval fiefdoms run by ruthless dictators. Because of this lie we watch silently as Federal and state land purchases swallow private property and then close the roads, deny access, stop environmental management, charge ever-higher access fees, write ever-more restrictive regulations, and enforce it all like the Sheriff of Nottingham. Because of this lie we bow to Federal agencies forcing wolves where they are not wanted and then abjuring any responsibility for the inestimable harm they cause ranchers, pet owners, hunters, and others. Because of this lie we shrug as rural logging communities are devastated and public energy under public lands remains untouched as we fight a war generated by those who control most of our current energy supplies. Because of this lie we accept more governmental restriction on private property for something that is not "public USE" (as demanded in the Constitution) without even compensation. Because of this lie we ignore the corrosive effect on our entire Constitutionally guaranteed way of life as Federal bureaucracies make hostages of state governments and Universities. Because of this lie we accept different academic definitions (now used in laws and courts) for "species" and "harmful" and "invasive." Because of this lie we look the other way as Federal bureaucrats, Federal politicians, and the environmental zealots and animal rights radicals work with academic harlots to pass the biggest increase yet in Federal hegemony, a Federal Invasive Species Act. This last will cost billions and create a never-ending jihad for invasive species that will put the harms perpetrated by the Endangered Species Act to shame.