(50 word min, no cut and paste, cite refs) Rather than arguing your personal position, I'd like to ask everyone to consider the justifications for

(50 word min, no cut and paste, cite refs)Rather than arguing your personal position, I'd like to ask everyone to consider the justifications for and arguments against hunting.What are they?Do these reasons have some validity? (Don't just say you're personally for or against it, I'd like everyone to consider the pro's and cons of hunting and back it up with research.)Here's an interesting case history: There is a reservoir in Massachusetts surrounded by a natural area and preserve. It was observed that the water quality in the reservoir was declining, hurting the aquatic and riparian (shore) ecosystems, and threatening the drinking water supply. Scientists traced the declining water quality to erosion and sediment runoff, the sediment runoff to decreased vegetation, and the decreased vegetation to overgrazing by the local deer population. Further studies indicated the deer were not behaving like deer in the wild - they were congregating in fixed places, their senses had become dulled to threats, and they had grown accustomed to people. Because of the location of this preserve, bringing back natural predators was not an option. Limited hunting was introduced. Deer numbers were reduced, and the deer population became stronger, keeping on the move with senses sharpened. Vegetation re-grew, and both the water quality in the watershed and the health of the ecosystems improved.This is another example of human-affected Interrelationships (one of the major themes of this course), just like salmon-logging in the Northwest, wolves-vegetation in Yellowstone, and wolves-chronic wasting disease in Colorado