If you=92d like, I can send you a presentation by ecologist Micheal Husto=
n of
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and author of Biological Diversity
(Cambridge Press). He says the land good enough to farm has little
biological diversity compared to marginal lands. The huge majority of th=
e
world=92s wild species are in the poor lands: wet rain forests, swamps,
mountain microclimates. Most of the =93species=94 on the U.S. endangered=
species
list aren=92t species at all but sub-species and fringe populations. (Th=
e
marbled murelet, which is listed as =93threatened=94 in the Pacific North=
west but
has always been rare there, is thriving in its primary habitat, Alaska.) =
He
recommended an end to U.S. setaside, and full-speed-ahead on higher yield=
s.
I=92m certainly happy to hear about other ways to get high crop yields. =
(The
SANET has just given me one note about controlling weeds with flame, mulc=
hing
and mowing. The mulching, in particular, will be important for the
erosion-prone tropics -- but so will no-till.)
I don=92t care about chemicals, I care about sustainable high yields.
Dennis Avery
Center for Global Food Issue, Hudson Institute