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This letter was sent to the New York Times on September 25, 2000, to address certain issues in its coverage of the event.
The Times chose not to publish the letter.
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, New York
The Editors:
In the article "Monarchs Sent Off to Mariachi Beat"
Metro Section, pB1,
Saturday 23 September 2000) Jeff Glassberg belittles the release
of tagged
monarch butterflies as a "circus sideshow" in which
butterflies are treated
as "toys". To the contrary, tagging monarchs sheds
light on how these
remarkable insects find their way to Mexico. Tagging also
provides
information the size of their populations (Monarchwatch.org),
data that are
needed to establish the impact of deforestation (The New York
Times,
Science Times, 12 September 2000) on monarchs in Mexico. This
event,
"Monarch Watch 2000 in Central Park", was attended by
the Consul General of
Mexico in New York and by a representative of the World Wildlife
Fund in
Mexico and was an exceptional opportunity to educate the
international
community about WWF'S effort to build on their new $5 million
dollar
endowment fund to buy logging rights and to establish a unique
system of
conservation in Mexico. In addition, the event promoted the
Michoacan
Reforestation Fund and the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary
Foundation, both of
which support conservation projects in the Monarch Reserves in
Mexico. We
live in a complex world in which education, persuasion,
discussion,
accommodation, compromise and mitigation are the realities of
conservation.
Mr. Glassberg's message may appeal to some, but it does not help
in the
task to save monarchs in Mexico. We wish to thank Commissioner
Henry Stern
for providing a forum in Central Park for this important
international
educational opportunity.
Dr. Orley R.Taylor, Professor and Director, Monarch Watch,
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Dr. Lincoln P. Brower, Professor, Sweet Briar College, Sweet
Briar, VA. and emeritas
Distinguished Service Professor, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville
Dr. Kurt Johnson, Florida State Collection of Arthropods
(Research Associate), New
York, NY
Dr. Paul A. Opler, Professor and Senior Research Scientist
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Dr. Robert Michael Pyle, author and Director, The Monarch
Project, Gray's River, Washington
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addresses/particulars:
Dr. Orley R. Taylor,
Monarch Watch,
Dept. of Entomology,
7005 Haworth Hall,
Univ. of KS,
Lawrence KS 66045
phone 785-864-4051
email monarch@ukans.edu
Professor Lincoln P. Brower
Research Professor of Biology and
Emeritus Distinguished Service Professor
University of Florida, Gainesville;
Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar, VA 24595
phone 804-277-5065
email brower@sbc.edu
Dr. Kurt Johnson,
Research Associate, Florida State Collection
of Arthropods;
Environmental Department,
American Ethical Union,
4 West 64th Street,
New York, New York
10024
phone 212-626-4274
email johnsonk@coudert.com
Dr. Paul A. Opler
Department of Biology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
phone 970-667-8448
email paulevi@webaccess.net
Dr. Robert M. Pyle
author of "Chasing Monarchs"
The Monarch Project
369 Loop Road
Gray's River, WA 98621
phone 360-465-2539
email <tlpyle@willapabay.org>
