The Poll: yet another response

From
Date
>Return-Path: <gsanet!gsahost!lbowlds@uucp-1.csn.net>
>Date:  Mon, 05 Feb 96 17:05:04 
>From: Larry Bowlds <LBOWLDS@geosociety.org>
>Sender: lbowlds@geosociety.org
>To: vrtpaleo@usc.edu, paleonet@nhm.ac.ukk
>Cc: lbowlds@indra.com
>Subject: The Poll: yet another response
>
>
>On  2 Feb 96, Stucky, Richard wrote:
>A point of clarification about public opinion in the US.  It is because of
>public opinion that the first ten amendments (Bill of Rights) were amended
>to the US constitution to ensure the protection of both individual and state
>rights.  Without public opinion, the antifederalists wouldn't have been able
>to force the issues of religious freedom, 5th amendment rights, freedom of
>the press and other rights which we now believe to be given.  Perhaps the
>questions about fossils should have been asked that Larry brings up, but I
>suspect those questions will be raised if any bill ever gets into committee.
>Cheers,
>Richard K. Stucky, Denver Museum, rstucky@csn.net
>
>
>Richard,
>I'm not certain how much the average illiterate rural U.S. landowner 
>had to do with the adoption of the Bill of Rights, but I'll assume 
>you're correct. However, it is precisely because public opinion is valued so 
>much in this country that people (like me) complain when so-called 
>public opinion is held up and called the real thing (when it isn't). 
>If I thought that the poll were valid and truly represented public 
>opinion, I'd shut up.
>
>The Paleontological Society, SVP, and Dinosaur Society CANNOT
>legitimately talk about public opinion with respect to the regulation 
>of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils. Public opinion has not been 
>accurately measured. We do not know what public opinion is.
>
>My concern is, and always has been, that this poll would be used to 
>support the introduction and/or passage of legislation that would 
>make the regulation of fossils uniform -- be they vertebrate, 
>invertebrate, plant, or microfossil. Such sweeping legislation would 
>be (1) wrong and (2) unenforceable.
>
>Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me that this poll won't be used in an attempt 
>to take away my right to collect invertebrate fossils on federal land 
>without a permit -- which is perfectly legal in most areas now. Tell 
>me this poll also won't be used to support the restriction and regulation 
>of fossil collecting on state lands.
>
>Maybe you won't use the poll this way, but several individuals who 
>post on the Net regularly certainly would, based on things they've 
>said during the past year.
>
>You also said, "Perhaps the questions about fossils should have been asked
>that Larry brings up, but I suspect those questions will be raised if any bill
>ever gets into committee." Why should those questions be raised if 
>the sponsoring congressman has a poll taken in cooperation with the 
>Paleontological Society, SVP, and Dinosaur Society? The very fact 
>that these prestigious groups have lent credence to this poll surely makes 
>my objections futile.
>
>If anyone can show me, point by point, that I'm wrong, I'll shut up. 
>If anyone in a position to do so can publicly declare that this poll 
>will not be used to influence legislation at the state or federal 
>level, I'll shut up. Until that time, don't expect me to go away.
>
>Larry
>
>
>
>