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Editorial: Independence Day
July 2nd, 2006

Editorial: Once Again...
June 25th, 2006

Editorial: Home Ownership
June 24th, 2006

Editorial: Mosquito Control in Cedar Key
May 11th, 2006

Editorial: Will Gas Prices Go Up?
April 30th, 2006

Editorial: Tree Ordinance Violations
April 26th, 2006

Editorial: Why Worry about Global Warming?
April 21st, 2006

Editorial: The Purpose of Government?
March 23rd, 2006

Editorial: Air Boat Regatta, Guests or Pests?
January 29th, 2006

Editorial: The East-West Management Plan
December 21st, 2005

Editorial: Water, Water, Water
December 13th, 2005

Editorial: Bad News for Print News, Good for Online
November 14th, 2005

Editorial: A Bad Tradition
November 10th, 2005

Editorial: For the Birds
October 17th, 2005

Editorial: If It Killed the River....
October 4th, 2005

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A Fable: The Great Guano Concord

A Fable: The Great Guano Concord

Editorial

On Seahorse Key the pelican rookery was thriving. Nests in the trees, nests on the ground, plenty of fish in the Gulf, and the guano got deeper each day. True, there were two classes of the small society. The tree nesters looked down on the ground-nesters, and the ground-nesters grumbled about the fallout from the trees. But there were no complaints from the dung beetles. Their economy hadn`t been so good in years.


As in any society, the classes do a bit of sniping. The tree-nesters pointed out to their nestlings that the ground-nesters walked around in their own guano. And the ground-nesters groused about the fallout. And the guano got a little deeper. The beetles began to believe in manna from heaven.


On the feeding grounds the classes mixed, thanks to the schooling of the fish. Undiplomatic remarks about the guano problem led to serious pecking and flapping. The conflicts escalated to the point that the Elders Commission could no longer ignore the fighting.


The Elders Commission met each week on a nearby island where they could avoid interruptions by the younger pelicans. The oldest bird in the group opened the discussion with the observation that the guano was at the root of the conflicts. All agreed, with the exception of one elder who always squawked about the tyranny of the majority. Another elder, who spent a lot of time on the Cedar Key town dock said that he had watched humans for many years, and that they threw their waste into the Gulf rather than having it pile up where they lived. The solution to the guano problem was obvious, but would require community support. The Council decided on a morning retreat on neutral ground to present the solution to all adult pelicans.


The retreat was a big success. Everyone agreed to dump his or her waste over the Gulf. Once that was the policy, someone remarked that it should cut down on the complaints from the heron rookery that was down wind from the pelican rookery. The dung- beetles had not been invited to the retreat.


Moral: Every reformation must have its victims.

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