Lately, I've mostly worried about threats to Dryden that come with large wallets and bad ideas, but some problems have humbler origins. This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that feral hogs are moving into the area, and "breeding in three New York counties -- Tioga, Cortland and Onondaga."
The Department of Environmental Conservation's response to the threat sounds decisive:
adopted a take-no-prisoners approach to their management.
The DEC is giving hunters and others almost blanket approval to kill the wild pigs on the spot.
The more expensive walk-in traps also sound promising.
I'm definitely going to have to consider some extra reinforcement for my deer fence, both to protect from digging and to discourage huge hogs from pushing right through. It's also another good reason to get a game cam out there, so I can see what's coming through.
On a very different note, I'm pretty sure I saw these folks walking up 366 yesterday afternoon on their protest march to Syracuse.
There's also an article on the back and forth on the hydrofracking debate. Somehow it doesn't notice the David and Goliath nature of the funding on the two sides of the battle. The Park Foundation may be environmentally minded, but it's a tiny pile of money that doesn't stand to make more money based on its efforts.
Posted by simon at April 18, 2011 12:04 PM in Ithaca Journal , agriculture , ecosystems , energy , politics (national)