Comments on: Why Minnesota Can't Have Nice Things

By: IraqVet99

IraqVet99 — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:40:58 +0000

Greg here is something we both agree on. The wolf population is not even reaching pre 1900 levels and even if it was there are still more deer than wolves so it would be a null issue. The big push for this hunt is that people are seeing less deer than they used to, but cant figure out that it is not the wolves fault, but there own for over hunting. You can only have so many years that you take 11 deer and not expect the population numbers to dwindle. If the people would look at hunting pratices as the cause they would see they are at fault, and we as man can never be wrong right? The wolves self sustain population levles to coincide with food levels, they won’t mate or self abort when food gets scarce. As to that point if you look at NTSB’s number of deer strikes a year they continue to rise every year because the deer population keeps expanding. There were many areas that over hunting of deer was not aloud and there they are booming. Maybe instead of hunting wolves these people should look at the data and reevaluate there hunting practices.

By: Ian Kemmish

Ian Kemmish — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:34:09 +0000

Surely those who relied on experience and naïve knowledge (ignoring the roads, in other words) would correctly describe the topography of the Lakes Country if asked? It’s those who accept the results of research by past generations of surveyors, without attempting to understand those results, who are in trouble….

There’s a whole sub-genre of 19th Century literature (Thomas Hardy and Lev Tolstoy to name but two) about this disconnect.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:40:24 +0000

Eric, ya, I’m reasonably well familiar with New England. New Hampshire is a lot like Minnesota but with somewhat bigger hills.

By: Eric Lund

Eric Lund — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:56:50 +0000

I’m not so familiar with the Minnesota Lakes Country, but I see similar things here in New Hampshire. People from down south (Boston or New York City) buy or build houses up here, and in some cases move up here permanently (parts of New Hampshire are within 30 miles of downtown Boston). It puts more and more strain on the local environment, as well as local infrastructure (our forests are also almost entirely secondary growth, and our roads also tend to avoid marshland to the extent possible). The townships that are bearing the brunt of this development get ever less pleasant to look at or drive through (never mind to live in). And most of these houses just have to come with suburban style lawns (though they frequently do keep some fragmented woodland).

At least we’re not Florida, where this has been a problem ever since Flagler built his railroad. When I was growing up down there, you could still find beautiful spots, though it got harder and harder as developers moved in on those spots. My family bailed out in 1991, and I haven’t been to Florida since then (nor do I have any desire to visit).

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:03:13 +0000

Yeah, I think this is what people are afraid of, extending it to humans!

By: daedalus2u

daedalus2u — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:26:41 +0000

The presence of wolves may be a factor in the low incidence of chronic wasting disease in Minnesota.

Wolves are pretty good at culling wimpy animals that can’t run very well.

By: John McKay

John McKay — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:55:32 +0000

The satellite picture is missing.