On the quail decline
Regarding “Flushing out the quail decline” in the Sept. 15 edition, first, thanks to the editor and Michael Widner for keeping the issue of the quail decline in Arkansas before the public. Where there’s press coverage, there’s hope.
Economics includes the studies of macro (big-picture subjects such as Federal Reserve policy, federal government spending, international trade, et al., that affect gross domestic product), and micro (competition within an industry, profit maximization structure of a business, pricing policy, individuals’ decision-making pertaining to money, et al.). Mr. Widner’s article should be looked at in the macro and the micro.
The bulk of his argument regarding the loss of habitat is in the macro environment witnessed by his citing, “All we have to do … is to reverse the land-use practices of the last three generations on 30 million acres.” No argument there. I can, as he did, give multiple examples of areas with habitat that held birds and now those same tracts without habitat do not.
But in the micro view, he misses. Talk to landowners who live there. Many will say, as I do: “I have suitable habitat … enough of it, and no quail. What I do have is a pockmarked tract full of burrows made by nocturnal ground predators. And they all eat my ground-nesting bird eggs.” That’s one of the main micro reasons for the decline in quail.
Private landowners will not change from fescue fields as long as raising cattle is profitable. But the Game and Fish Commission can. It can dedicate part of its wildlife management areas to quail habitat starting today. No “public/private partnership” needed. Further, instead of spending multimillions on another (wasted) visitor education center, pay a bounty on nocturnal ground predators in suitable counties that still have habitat, and on their WMAs. Try it for five years. And don’t run scared of PETA. Game and Fish has lawyers, too.
To restore the grand and magnificent sport of hunting wild quail with bird dogs in our beloved state, it will take macro and micro solutions.
DAVE JOHNSON
Fayetteville
What creates crime
The recent $1.2 million in grants to the Little Rock Police Department to “tackle crime” is a hollow hope for reducing crime in the city. Its focus on arresting the perpetrators and supporting the victims, while important, is the same old limited approach that has filled our jails and prisons and left children to fend for themselves.
We continue to ignore the conditions that create crime: intergenerational poverty, hopelessness, anger, and repeated betrayals of the dream that hard work will bring a well-paying job, safe and affordable housing, well-funded schools, access to health and mental health services, good public transportation, and racial equity.
Real security is when we know our neighbors have what they need to succeed.
PAUL KELLY
Mabelvale
An outstanding idea
My 6-year-old granddaughter and I wanted to include a lot of Halloween books in our nightly reading. I decided to check out Laman Library since I work near there, and to my delight, they had color-coded all of their books in the children’s section. Purple was for black history, orange was for Halloween, red was for Christmas, green for St. Patrick’s, yellow for Easter, gray for Ramadan, pink for Valentine’s Day, and blue for Chanukah.
This must have been a time- consuming job. It was an outstanding idea. Again, wonderful job!
ROXANNE JORDAN
Maumelle
Missing out on solar
Having grown up in the northeast, I can promise you that people’s perceptions of Arkansas too often miss what makes the state so special.
The people and the culture are one of a kind, for sure, and so is the environment—there’s a reason that Arkansas gets to claim the title of the Natural State. Beautiful weather and natural beauty are such big parts of what makes the state special, and it’s what we risk losing if we fail to act on climate change.
Arkansas can help protect its natural spaces by transitioning away from fossil fuels, and we’re uniquely positioned to do so—because of our weather and sunlight, we rank 11th in the country for solar energy capacity, but rank just 47th in solar jobs created. Solar is projected to be the fastest growing job field in the country over the next decade. Why is Arkansas missing its slice of that pie?
Big utility companies, more concerned with their own profit margins than the health of the state’s climate and economy, are fighting to make sure that solar energy remains too costly for most Arkansans. The Public Service Commission should stand up to the utilities, and pass consumer-friendly energy regulations to boost Arkansas’ present and protect its future.
SAM PRESCOTT
Fayetteville
Democratic nominee
Elizabeth Warren is not my first choice for president, but I believe she is the only Democrat at present who might beat President Donald Trump.
Why?
Warren is articulate, strong, intelligent, and is afraid of no one, including Trump. I believe he fears Warren and hopes she isn’t the Democrat nominee. Could she win? Not unless Joe Biden along with the other Democrat candidates unite in her support.
The black and Hispanic vote likely will go to the Democrat nominee. Warren might not be the first choice of the left, but where else does it have to go? The same could be said for moderates because Biden doesn’t appear as alert as he was 30 years ago, and most people seem to recognize it.
Trump, the likely GOP nominee, will get the vote of his usual followers, along with scattered support elsewhere.
The winner will depend on which side gets the most voters out. If the left stays home because it doesn’t like the Democrat nominee, then Trump will get another four years. If he wins again, I can already see him saying, “I told you all along that I am the anointed one.”
VERNON McDANIEL
Ozark