Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news69~9.htm/text0079.txt

Text File | 1998-04-02 | 10.4 KB | 288 lines

A link to information on citizen opposition to factory hog farms:

     www.salamander.com/~manyhogs/index.html


Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 17:43:45 -0600
From: Steve Barney <[e-mail]>
To: AR-News <[e-mail]>
Subject: [US-WI] "Thai, UW monkey plan causing fuss" (TCT-031198)
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"Thai, UW monkey plan causing fuss
Wildlife group: Keep them in U.S."
The Capital Times
Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Wednesday, March 11, 1998
Page 5A

-- Beginning --

THAI, UW MONKEY PLAN CAUSING FUSS

WILDLIFE GROUP: KEEP THEM IN U.S.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -A Thai conservation group, breaking with other
local wildlife organizations, has expressed opposition to a plan to take
in 51 monkeys facing eviction from the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison.

The monkeys - stump-tailed macaques - are owned by the University of
Wisconsin's Regional Primate Research Center.

The Thai Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals expressed its
opposition at a meeting hosted Wednesday by the national forestry
department to solicit opinions on the idea of bring the monkeys to
Thailand, the land of their ancestors.

The society said the existing captive population of stump-tailed
macaques is already high - it estimates greater than 200 - and the wild
population is also sufficient.  It said that macaques are difficult to
keep under any circumstances, and no suitable facilities currently exist
in Thailand to hold them.

It also noted potential mechanical problems because, it said, the
monkeys' medical records indicate that at least some have the herpes B
virus, which is endemic in virtually all macaque colonies.

At the meeting it was decided to set up a committee, with members from
both the public and private sectors, to investigate further.

Pisit na Patalung of the Wildlife Fund Thailand said it was good to have
the meeting, but he felt the discussion of health issues strayed from
its purpose.

"If they are happy in America, that's fine," he told the Associated
Press.  "If they are being taken care of, we don't want them here, we
don't need them here.  The whole point is, if the monkeys are going to
die, if they are going to suffer, we want then home."

Recently a flamboyant Thai hotel entrepreneur who arranges an annual
feast for wild monkeys offered to provide land for a sanctuary, but a
large number of hurdles remain before the stump-tailed macaques could
come to Thailand.

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana has agreed to help arrange
transportation for the monkeys.

But few concrete plans have been made, said Jordana Lenon, a spokeswoman
for the UW's primate center.

"We will not send the stump-tail colony to any facility that does not
have appropriate housing and the ability to properly care for this
threatened species," Lenon said in an e-mail message to the Associated
Press.

-- End --

More information about the UW-Madison monkey scandal is available at:

     http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/Issues.html


Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 17:44:10 -0600
From: Steve Barney <[e-mail]>
To: AR-News <[e-mail]>
Subject: [US-WI] "Regulating factory farms" (TCT-031198)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-version: 1.0
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"Regulating factory farms"
Editorial
The Capital Times
Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Wednesday, March 11, 1998
http://www.thecapitaltimes.com/factfarm.htm
Reply to: [e-mail]
                                  [Image]

Editorial

Regulating factory farms

March 11, 1998

>From the snow-covered farm fields of Wisconsin to the lobbyist-clogged
hallways of Capitol Hill, no agricultural issue has sparked more debate in
recent months than factory farming.

Mounting concern about the threats posed by huge corporate hog, poultry and
dairy farms to public health, environmental safety and consumer choice has
led to bold proposals at virtually every level of government.

Yet few of the proposals have shown an adequate level of concern for
protecting the small family farms that remain the backbone of Wisconsin
agriculture. That's because too many politicians are resorting to
simplistic calculations that fail to address the rapid restructuring of
America's farm economy to favor huge corporations and penalize working
farmers.

The trouble begins with the Clinton administration's recent proposal to
regulate factory farms.

Responding to the outcry against factory farming in states such as
Wisconsin and Iowa, the Clinton administration is seeking to apply stricter
environmental regulation to agribusiness.

Proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency to cut down on pollution
harmful to waterways, the regulations would apply federal Clean Water Act
standards to dairy, hog, beef and poultry farms.

To the extent that environmental regulations are used to restrict the
expansion of factory farms -- which pose a genuine threat not only to
waterways but also to the rural economy of states such as Wisconsin -- the
Clinton administration's approach is worthy. But if those regulations end
up forcing more small family farms out of business, then there's got to be
a better way.

In a letter to the president, State Sen. DaleSchultz Schultz, R-Richland
Center, argues that the regulations do indeed threaten small family farms.

The main target of the rules would be large farms, which would have to
undergo regular inspections, get pollution permits and develop plans to
limit the release of chemicals, manure and wastes into waterways.

But, as Schultz points out, under the proposed rules, even farms with as
few as 20 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle and 100 hogs would face new
regulations. Without federal aid or tax credits, those regulations could
additionally burden already hard-pressed farmers -- particularly those in
the dairy industry. In a state that has lost 9,000 dairy farms since 1990,
that's a very serious threat.

So why not just scrap the rules altogether?

Two reasons.

First, factory farms do pose a pollution threat, and must be regulated.
Second, Wisconsin's already strict rules on farm runoff mean that farmers
in this state are far better prepared than most to deal with new rules.

What to do?

The Clinton administration should apply tough new rules to factory farms.
But those farms ought to be more clearly defined, so that the rules do not
harm traditional family farms.

Small farms should be subject to regulations, as well. But the federal
government needs to recognize the inherent value of family-owned farms to
rural communities, and the feds should thus provide small farmers with
assistance that will make it possible to at once reduce pollution and keep
farmers on the land.

That's the alternative that is necessary. AndClausing if Dale Schultz is
serious about helping the majority of farmers in Wisconsin, he will make it
clear that the way to preserve Wisconsin's farm communities is not with an
absence of regulation but with an approach that recognizes the need to
limit factory farms.

This is what state Sen. Alice Clausing, D-Menomonie, is proposing in a bill
she was expected to present today. Clausing's bill represents a more
reasoned approach than the Clinton administration's line, since it targets
the problem directly, and since it takes a clear stand in favor of family
farms.

If Schultz really wants to stand up for Wisconsin farmers, he should
continue to critique the flaws in the Clinton administration's approach.
But he should also sign on as a co-sponsor to Clausing's bill.

Let us know what you think

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