Turkey Day

There is a reason to be thankful on thanksgiving and it is turkey. We have these wonderful birds just roaming free, available to anyone willing to brave the outdoors and out smart these big breasted birds. I don't think enough people appreciate the fact that everything needed to survive is just outside. This is why conservation is so important and I believe that the best way to save the natural world is to convince people that land is more valuable (even monetarily) as a stand of woods than as condos. I think the best example of it working is in S. Africa where elephants were on the brink of extinction. Africans killed them because they were in competition with cattle which the Africans perceived as more valuable. When in fact sport hunting of elephant has brought far more money to the locals. Since then hunting preserves were set up so people could spend insane amounts of money to shoot one elephant. The potential profits have motivated people to preserve the habitat and work to increase the numbers of elephant so they can sell more permits to would be hunters. There are more elephants in Africa now than anytime in recent history. Whatever people place value on will be protected. More people simply need to value the outdoors the way I do. I paid the state of Tennessee $1200 for a hunting license because I value it. Now the state of Tennessee has bought additional land finishing the Cumberland wildlife corridor. Money makes the world go around, we just need to value nature more than concrete.