Dear HCN,
Ranching historian Tom
Sheridan’s statement that the Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity’s Endangered Species Act lawsuits are bad for rural
landscapes because they make life tougher for ranchers is a bit off
(HCN, 6/8/98). In his letter, Tom paraphrases James Carville,
saying, “It’s land fragmentation, stupid.” In fact, it’s habitat
fragmentation we should be concerned about. As former Arizona Game
and Fish Department biologist David Brown, who is now at Arizona
State University, has shown, cattle grazing in southern Arizona
causes vegetation conversion which leads to a loss of native
species.
If the Southwest Center’s lawsuits
didn’t have a scientific basis, the group wouldn’t have an 80
percent success rate in court. Where were people like Tom Sheridan
when it came to working on Arizona’s urban growth boundary
initiative, which recently petered out for lack of funds? Let’s
work together on improving zoning in Arizona, rather than depending
on a fading, environmentally destructive industry that needs $400
million in federal subsidies just to stay afloat. The problem is a
lot more complicated than cows vs. condos. The cancer-stricken
Marlboro Man isn’t going to save us from ourselves, but the
Southwest Center, currently suing on behalf of the cactus
ferruginous pygmy owl, which lives in rapidly suburbanizing
valleys, just might.
Susan
Zakin
Tucson, Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline No, it’s habitat fragmentation, stupid.
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