GoldenCheekedWarbler_HueandCry_Hughes_Susan_SanAntonioTX_17February2006_Reel2341.mp3

Susan Hughes [00:00:00] The critical habitat designation for the, for the golden-cheeked warbler was probably one of the most unfortunate things that ever happened in central Texas.

Susan Hughes [00:00:10] When that story broke, and the headlines in the San Antonio Express-News were, you know, 30 Central Texas counties, you know, to be designated critical habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler, which, of course, was grossly incorrect, you know.

Susan Hughes [00:00:27] But once it was on the front page of the paper, you know, it became truth, and retraction on page six just doesn't really change the fact that the perceived truth is that all these counties were going to be designated as critical habitat.

Susan Hughes [00:00:41] You know, as you know, people brought out their bulldozers and cut down every, pushed down every cedar tree they could find, and dragged cedar trees down the, down Congress Avenue to the Capitol. And, I mean, there was a great hue and cry about the impact on property rights of, of these designations.

Susan Hughes [00:01:03] And my dad was one of these folks who ... little birds were just little birds. You know, it wasn't a matter of, you know, there being warblers and chickadees and, you know, all these different species. They were just little birds.

Susan Hughes [00:01:18] And I think the same thing is probably the case for most farmers and ranchers. This doesn't mean that they don't appreciate them. It means that their appreciation is a different type of appreciation from that of a birder or someone who's really interested in species conservation, species recognition, or birdwatching.

Susan Hughes [00:01:41] So what happened immediately is whenever (this is totally my perspective), but is whenever this happened and the big hue and cry came about, you know, some little bird (of course, we had the same thing with salamanders and, you know, springs), but that some little bird is going to make a difference in how I manage my land.

Susan Hughes [00:02:00] And of course, the truth you know, the facts of the matter were not brought out, in terms of what comprised habitat and what didn't.

Susan Hughes [00:02:09] But the response from the environmental community was something to the effect of, "You, stupid farmer, rancher, whatever, don't you know that you have habitat for an endangered species on your property?"

Susan Hughes [00:02:25] And when somebody is attacked like that, the immediate response is, "Well, no, I don't know that, but why should I, and why should I care? Who are you to tell me what I know or don't know, or what I'm doing, what I'm doing wrong, and accuse me of being this big, bad rancher person who's going to not provide habitat for this stupid little bird."

Susan Hughes [00:02:51] So we had this immediate conflict. Whereas if we had come in and said, "Let's talk about this and let's understand that there are some very specific areas that comprise habitat for this little bird - native Texan. Every golden-cheeked warbler in the world, ever, was born, hatched, right here in Texas, on your land. How, how fortunate, you know, that there is this wonderful habitat. It's not area that you would ever raise crops on, or try to ranch on. You wouldn't run cattle in those areas. But look what a, what a nifty little thing this is, that's right there on your land. And it's so easy to take care of, if we just, you know, let's talk about this."

Susan Hughes [00:03:39] Instead of setting up this immediate conflict that then made everybody, put everybody on the defensive. You know, just stark raving nuts.