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From: Betsy Feuerstein ecuador at midsouth.rr.com> on 2001.07.27 at 06:21:32(7150) I wanted to take just a few lines to express my opinion about this current situation where an Ecuadorean orchid dealer is being railroaded into destruction by the government using an indited felon as a snitch in a bait situation. The one message that came across was with such venom and anger and conviction about what is going on in the wild and conservation, and right and wrong.. Perhaps if those who are so sure of their point of view might read, Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen, they might get a more realistic point of view of what truly is going on. Those of us who have been out there for many years seeing what is happening to nature by the individual governments and populations, know that road construction, lumber production, money and power are the issues at hand. All of us would like to see nature preserved, but in all reality, that is not going to be. All of that said, I can accept that efforts be made to help save nature. Such efforts must take into consideration that the governments of areas and the people must do their part to save what is being burned, cut down, paved over, damned, etc. If not so, then no matter what efforts are made, little will be achieved. Now, for one who does not know all of the facts to condemn a man perhaps for nothing or at worst, for having make a bad decision, is to me, rather like putting oneself in the glass house praying that no one throws a stone. God forbid one should admit they have never made a decision at some point that they have not regretted later on. I cannot tell you if what this person did or did not do is legal or not, but for someone to take such a vehement attitude without the facts, to me, is questionable. WE live in a country where such opinions are to be respected, and I do. I might hope also that before we condemn, we might walk a mile in the shoes of another in order that we be blessed with understanding and tolerance. Perhaps just a bit of compassion might temper ones strong tones. No problem with disagreeing, just remember, but for the Grace of God, anyone of us might be walking this straight line of intolerance. If you choose to see CITES as the answer to saving nature, fine. I suggest you immerse yourself in the jungle for just a few days and hear the chain saws bellowing their sounds as the thunderous rumble of falling trees echoes in the near realm, or walk down roads layered with gummy slippery crude oil, or see your reflection in the waters of a hydroelectric dam and dream of the plants that once existed where man demanded power, or wander out from underneath the coolness and protection of the jungle canopy into the stifling stench and heat of its absence, or walk down a tropical road with nothing to be seen but a few palms and grasser see streams with oil slicks floating by in waters once pristine with black water, or just listen to nature as the big trucks rumble past with their black exhaust billowing into the sky and wonder what CITES saved in the big picture of money and power and control. All I ask you to do is be more informed, more tolerant, and more understanding. It all is a choice and it begins with each of us. +More Betsy

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