Nature group killing off wildlife?

I used to love the daily drive to Benson on the dirt road that follows the San Pedro River. There was a ranch that had miles of lush green pastures that attracted a diverse variety of wildlife.

You could see deer and javelina sharing the fields with the cattle. Birds of prey hunted for mice. The whole area was abundant with raccoons, skunks, bobcats, coyotes, foxes and even an occasional cougar. The animals had grown to depend on the ranch for food and water over many decades.

But now the fields are barren and the wildlife is gone. The only reminder of the past is a deer carcass by a sign declaring the Nature Conservancy as the new owners.

I heard that they pulled the pumps from all the wells so the river would start flowing again. But, the river still looks dry, just as it has since the earthquake 100 years ago sent the flow below the surface.

What I've been wondering is: What happened to all the wildlife? The monsoon hadn't started yet when the pumps were pulled, and food and water were scarce. With all of the money, expertise and government assistance available to such a large organization, surely they would not just cut off food and water without first planning some kind of humane assistance. I would like to think they did at least try.

- GARY MATTAUSCH

To Gary from KBC,

You should have been in the Klamath Basin in 2001.  Our wildlife refuges were bone dry, wildlife disappeared, our hispanic farm workers' plight  was like a mass exodus. Due to the efforts of our environmental groups in alliance with our many many government agencies who want us to disappear, it was like an animal cemetery before the burial.  Trust me, the agencies and tax-exempt ecoterrorists in Klamath did not even try.   The hundreds of tons of wildlife feed that the farmers provide was not available, so farmers planted crops, mostly with no water, and left it for the birds.  Our broken farmers were the only ones who pumped their private wells into the refuge to rescue some of the wildlife that stayed.


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