On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:42:37 -0500, Tom Sherman
<sunsetss0003@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Mike Vandeman wrote:
>> On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 09:23:10 -0700, "Jeff Strickland"
>> <crwlr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>>> "Mike Vandeman" <mjvande@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>> news:m8fa94tic93qmahfbppab6jtn2ch3jrrmq@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>> August 11,
>>>> 1997
>>>> Juan Antonio Samaranch
>>>> President, International Olympic Committee
>>>> Chateau de Vidy
>>>> 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
>>>>
>>>> Katia Mascagni Stivachtis, Chief, Section of Environmental Affairs
>>>> Department of International Cooperation and Public Information
>>>> International Olympic Committee
>>>> Chateau de Vidy
>>>> 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
>>>>
>>>> Gentlepersons:
>>>>
>>>> I was delighted to learn (from your web page) that protection
>>>> of the environment (after s****ts and culture) is now one of the main
>>>> goals of the Olympics. The visibility and prestige of the Olympics
>>>> give you enormous responsibility, especially toward young people, who
>>>> will be strongly influenced by what they see. As you well know,
>>>> nonverbal learning is very powerful, and is for many people (e.g.
>>>> preliterate children) the primary means by which the Olympics teaches
>>>> them about s****ts, culture, and the environment. People, especially
>>>> children, assume that what they see on television, especially in the
>>>> Olympics, is proper.
>>>>
>>>> Therefore, I was shocked, saddened, and embarrassed when I
>>>> discovered that mountain biking has been accepted as an Olympic
s****t.
>>>> I am enclosing several papers in which I explain in detail the harm
>>>> that mountain biking inflicts on wildlife. But I will try to
summarize
>>>> that information here.
>>>>
>>>> We are in the midst of a worldwide extinction crisis.
>>>> According to the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of
>>>> Nature and Natural Resources), one fourth of all of the world's
>>>> animals are threatened with extinction. The primary threat is loss of
>>>> habitat. Such loss includes obvious, outright destruction, such as
>>>> clearcutting and open-pit mining, but also the excessive presence of
>>>> humans, which often causes wildlife to abandon their preferred
>>>> habitat. In either case, the wildlife lose access to im****tant
>>>> resources, such as certain food sources and potential mates. When
>>>> judging effects on wildlife, it is essential to look at the situation
>>>> from their point of view, not ours. If they abandon an area, the
>>>> habitat is effectively destroyed for them, regardless of what we
>>>> think.
>>>>
>>>> The primary reason why mountain biking is harmful to wildlife,
>>>> thus, is that it makes it much easier for people to get into wildlife
>>>> habitat. Mountain bikers don't just show up at the Olympics to race.
>>>> They have to spend many hours training. And where do they prefer to
>>>> ride? In wilderness (wildlife habitat). And what kind of trail do
they
>>>> prefer to ride on? "Single-track" trails, which are primarily in
>>>> wilderness, or at least the most natural part of any area. That is
>>>> also, of course, the area preferred by wildlife. The Olympics are a
>>>> powerful motivator. When people see a s****t in the Olympics, they
>>>> identify with the athletes and want to participate in the s****t.
Thus,
>>>> by simply including mountain biking in the Olympics, you unleash a
>>>> tidal wave of people buying mountain bikes, flooding parks and
>>>> wilderness areas, and participating in races. As is usual when there
>>>> is an increase in recreation, wildlife lose more and more of their
>>>> (already dangerously dwindling) habitat.
>>>>
>>>> The bicycle is a wonderful tool, but like any technological
>>>> aid, it can be used for good (e.g. to replace auto travel) or evil
>>>> (e.g. to expand man's domination of wildlife habitat). Similar damage
>>>> arises from the use of the use of other technologies, such as
climbing
>>>> aids (extending man's reach onto cliffs), rafts (giving people access
>>>> to the entire length of a river), night-vision goggles (making
>>>> night-time access to habitat easier), etc. Throughout our evolution,
>>>> technological aids (e.g. guns, the internal combustion engine, etc.)
>>>> have given us vastly more power than any other species, and the more
>>>> we have wielded them, the more damage we have done. You had the right
>>>> idea when you banned s****ts that "depend essentially on mechanical
>>>> propulsion". Technological aids have no place (or at most a minor
>>>> place) in Olympic s****ts, which are based on simple physical
>>>> activities like walking and swimming that measure the physical (e.g.
>>>> strength and health) and spiritual (e.g. s****tsman****p) dimensions of
>>>> a human being, not of his or her tools.
>>>>
>>>> Many mountain bikers also lack s****tsman****p. They insist on
>>>> riding even when their enjoyment conflicts with that of wildlife and
>>>> other people. Elderly hikers are being driven off of hiking trails
>>>> they have enjoyed all their lives. Threatened species have been
killed
>>>> by bikers, who then try to pretend that it didn't happen or was
>>>> insignificant. Anyone who speaks out against mountain biking is
>>>> attacked viciously, as I have been and continue to be. My physical
>>>> safety and that of my family have been threatened, for simply telling
>>>> the truth about the effects of mountain biking on wildlife. Many
>>>> mountain bikers seem to see their goal as conquering anything and
>>>> anyone in their path. I haven't seen such a lack of s****tsman****p in
>>>> any other s****t (with the exception of professional wrestling and one
>>>> infamous instance in ice skating).
>>>>
>>>> Mountain biking also destroys vast numbers of organisms that
>>>> live in and on soil, creating devastating erosion. One Olympic
>>>> hopeful, for example, trained in Brown's Woods, DesMoines, Iowa,
where
>>>> habitat destruction was so bad that the county was forced to close
the
>>>> park to bikes. The knobby tires used by virtually all mountain bikers
>>>> are perfectly designed to rip up the soil and kill the plants and
>>>> animals that live there. They insist on using those tires even though
>>>> they don't need that much traction unless they are traveling at
>>>> excessive speed, or riding on steep slopes or wet ground where biking
>>>> is inappropriate.
>>>>
>>>> The Earth's environmental problems are so huge that they will
>>>> not be solved without all of us doing our part. I appreciate that you
>>>> are striving to do your part, and are re-examining the Olympics with
>>>> the environment in mind. I hope you will consider dropping mountain
>>>> biking as an Olympic s****t, and take another look at all the other
>>>> s****ts (e.g. canoeing, which also intrudes into im****tant wildlife
>>>> habitat) from the point of view of wildlife.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Michael J.
>>>> Vandeman, Ph.D.
>>>>
>>>> P.S. A larger issue, of course, is whether an activity that requires
>>>> the long-distance travel of thousands of people can ever be
>>>> sustainable. I suggest that you recognize that the Earth's oil
>>>> supplies will soon be exhausted (estimated by the experts at about
>>>> 2040), and create a committee to begin planning for it. (E.g., how do
>>>> we want to make use of the oil that is left? Burn it up?!). Every
>>>> organization should have such a committee!
>>>>
>>>> References:
>>>>
>>>> Ehrlich, Paul and Anne, Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of
the
>>>> Disappearance of Species. c.1981.
>>>>
>>>> Knight, Richard L. and Kevin J. Gutzwiller, eds. Wildlife and
>>>> Recreationists. Covelo, California: Island Press, c.1995.
>>>>
>>>> Phillips, Kathryn, Tracking the Vani****ng Frogs: An Ecological
>>>> Mystery. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
>>>>
>>>> Stebbins, Robert, personal communication.
>>>>
>>>> Vandeman, Michael J., Ph.D.
>>>> http://www.imaja.com/change/environment/mvarticles/
>>>> --
>>>> I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
>>>> humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
>>>> years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
>>>>
>>>> Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you
are
>>>> fond of!
>>>>
>>>> http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
>>
>> You finally started making sense!
>
>WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
>
>Look at the thread title, Mike.
Did you have a point?
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are
fond of!
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
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