经济学人:莱克星顿 农场主对战北美野牛极端保护者

 　　Lexington

　　莱克星顿

　　Ranchers v bison-huggers

　　农场主对战北美野牛极端保护者

　　What the ceaseless rows over Yellowstone National Park reveal about America

　　有关黄石国家公园无休止的争论，为我们揭示出美国的哪些？

　　THE most original political book of early 2015 is not formally about politics at all. Instead “The Battle for Yellowstone” by Justin Farrell, a young scholar at Yale University, ponders venomous rows that have shaken Yellowstone National Park in recent decades, and why they are so intractable. The rows turn on such questions as wolf re-introduction, bison roaming-rights and snowmobile access to that lovely corner of the Rocky Mountains.

　　2015年初第一本政治性书籍形式上并不和政治相关，而是一本“为黄石公园而战”的书，作者是耶鲁大学的一名年轻的学者贾斯丁·法雷尔，他在该文中对最近几十年撼动了黄石国家公园的恶毒争吵进行了思考，以及它们为何如此棘手的原因。这些争吵引发了许多问题，如狼群的再引进，野牛的漫步权力，以及雪地摩托车对落基山脉中这个景色优美的角落的接近。

　　野牛极端保护者.jpg

　　It is nearly half a century since biologists first asked Congress to re-introduce wolves into Yellowstone, so that they might usefully eat some of the elk¹ then lumbering² about in over-large herds³. Getting to the point of releasing wolves in the mid-1990s involved executive actions and directives from six presidents, debates in dozens of congressional committees, 120 public hearings, more than 160,000 public submissions⁴ to federal wildlife bosses and at least $12m-worth of scientific research. Pro- and anti-wolf types drew up competing technical reports about the value of wolves as “apex predators”, economic costs to cattle ranchers, tourism benefits and elk ecology. This techno-rationalist arms race bought no peace: the wolf-wars blaze as fiercely as ever.

　　近半个世纪以前，生物学家首次要求国会再次为黄石公园引进狼群，让它们吃掉马鹿，以有效减少这个过于庞大的群体。在20世纪90年代中期，释放狼群这个决定牵扯了行政措施以及六名总统的指令，国会委员会进行了多次争辩，召开了120场公众听证会，野生生物管理局官员们收到了超过160,000篇公众意见书，政府投入了至少一亿两千万去进行科学研究。支持引入狼群和反对者们竞相起草各种科技报告，如关于狼群作为“顶端捕食者”的价值，养牛场场主的经济成本，旅游收益以及马鹿生态。这种技术武装的理论者竞争闹得没有宁日：狼群之争一如既往地激烈。

　　Yellowstone's wild bison trigger ferocious⁵ rows, too, each time they amble⁶ outside the national park. Let them roam, cry fans of these last genetically⁷ pure survivors⁸ of the vast herds that once filled the West. Stop them, bellow⁹ ranchers who fear the bison will infect their cattle with brucellosis, a nasty disease. Tottering¹⁰ stacks of brucellosis research have not resolved the dispute. Since 1997 more than 5,000 volunteers—many of them young, affluent¹¹ outsiders, some adopting such “forest names” as Chipmunk¹², Grumble¹³ or Frog—have catalogued countless¹⁴ allegations of bison-bullying outside park boundaries, but changed few minds about the rights and wrongs of it.

　　每当黄石公园的野牛在国家公园外围漫步时，它们都会引发激烈的争辩。这个庞大的群体一度遍布西方世界，而如今只剩下了这些最后的纯种幸存者，让它们尽情漫步吧！野牛群体的粉丝们大声呼喊。阻止它们！农场主们怒吼，因为他们害怕野牛们会向家牛传染讨厌的布鲁菌病。而那些大堆关于布鲁菌病的研究也未解决这场争辩。自1997年起就有超过五千名志愿者—大多数都是年轻人和富裕的外来者，也有一些采用了 “森林之名”，如花栗鼠、咕哝或者青蛙，他们将无数关于北美野牛在公园边界外围横行霸道的指控进行了编目，但只改变了一小批人的是非观念。

　　As for snowmobilers and their right to roar along Yellowstone trails when winter descends¹⁵, millions of dollars have been spent on lawsuits¹⁶ in Wyoming and Washington, DC since the late 1990s, backed by studies of engine-noise, exhaust-pollution and wildlife behaviour. Some wrangling¹⁷ continues.

　　关于冬天来临时驾雪车者以及他们在黄石山径呼啸而过的事情，自20世纪90年代后期，怀俄明州和华盛顿已经有数百万美元的法律诉讼了，这些诉讼由发动机噪音研究、废气污染研究以及野生生物行为研究支持。有些争辩如今仍在继续。

　　All this puzzled Mr Farrell, a sociologist¹⁸ at Yale's school of forestry¹⁹ and environmental studies, whose book is due out this summer, under the full title “The Battle for Yellowstone: Morality and the Sacred Roots of Environmental Conflict”. He spent two years asking folk in and around Yellowstone why they are so cross. Beneath debates about science and economics he found arguments about morality and the proper relations between humans and nature—though those involved often do not, or will not acknowledge this. In short, all sides purport²⁰ to be weighing what is true and false, while really arguing about right and wrong.

　　所有这些都使法雷尔先生很困惑，他是一名来自耶鲁大学林学与环境研究院的社会学家，他的著作将于今年夏天出炉，全称是“为黄石公园而战：道德与环境冲突的神圣根源”。他花了两年时间询问黄石公园之中以及周边的居民他们如此生气的原因。在关于科学和经济的争辩之下他发现了关于道德和人类与自然之间合适关系的论证—尽管那些参与争论的人经常意识不到，或者不承认这点。总之，各方都声称在他们争辩对错时确实仔细考虑了是非对错。

　　Pro-wolf biologists and officials call themselves dispassionate custodians²¹ of a unique place. But they give themselves away with quasi-spiritual talk of wolves restoring “wholeness” to a landscape damaged by man. Indeed, when the first Yellowstone wolves were released in 1995, the then-interior secretary, Bruce Babbit, called it “a day of redemption”. While living with pro-bison activists²², a startled Mr Farrell heard them telling various furry²³ specimens²⁴ “We love you,” or “We are here to protect you, you big sacred boy,” and spouting²⁵ bowdlerised Native-American teachings about the animals' ancient souls (while simultaneously²⁶ insisting, in many cases, that they distrusted religion and its works).

　　赞成引进狼群的生物学家和官员们自称为独特地方的冷静管理员。但他们类似精神的谈话暴露了自己的狐狸尾巴，称狼群可以将被人类破坏的风景“完全”恢复。确实，当黄石公园在1995年第一次放出狼群时，当时的内政部长布鲁斯·巴比特把这天叫做“救赎日”。而在与赞成保护野牛的活动家们一起居住时，法雷尔先生听到了一些令他震惊的话：他们对着各种毛绒绒的标本说“我们爱你们”，或“神圣的孩子们，我们来保护你们了”，并唾弃有所删节的美国本土关于动物古老灵魂的学说（同时在许多情况下，他们也坚持不信任宗教和其作品）。

　　As for anti-wolf types, when offered financial compensation for wolf-attacks on their livestock²⁷, some turn it down—suggesting that more than economics is at stake. Dig a bit, and a culture war is raging between the “old West” of rugged²⁸ ranchers and hunters, who once earned respect and status by taming nature, but who now find themselves called environmental menaces by “new West” incomers with big-city ideas about animal rights and natural ecosystems²⁹. Behind that local clash—pitting folk with gun racks on their trucks against those with bike racks, as Mr Farrell puts it—there lurks³¹ a still larger suspicion of the federal government. Many “old West” types see a plot to drive ranchers from the land. They talk of “federal wolves” undermining their property rights, and challenging the God-ordained duty of humans to protect their own families, and exercise dominion³² over Creation.

　　对于反对引入狼群的人来说，当向他们提供狼群袭击家畜的财政补贴时，有些人拒绝了，并建议说处于险境的并不只是他们的经济。更深入一点，在“老西部”的坚毅农场主与猎人中正在发生着一场激烈的文化战争，他们曾经因为驯化制服自然而获得尊敬与地位，但如今却发现自己被持有动物权利与自然生态等大都市思想的“新西部”移民们叫做环境威胁。在当地的冲突中，武装居民把枪架在卡车上，与另一队把枪架在自行车上的居民对峙，正如法雷尔提出的那样，那里隐藏着对联邦政府更大的猜疑。许多“老西部”居民都能看出一场要把农场主赶出这片土地的阴谋。他们说“联邦狼”暗中破坏了他们的财产权，挑战了上帝规定的人类要保护自己家庭的责任，而且滥用了上帝的造物权。

　　Crying wolf

　　嚎叫的狼

　　Yellowstone's hidden moral disputes offer wider lessons to America, a country that is increasingly divided and unusually keen on tackling complex ethical³³ questions in judicial³⁴ and quasi-judicial settings. Lots of other countries debate such issues as the death penalty, abortion³⁵, gun control or global warming in parliament, allowing partisans³⁶ to admit when they are advancing emotional or religious arguments. From its earliest days American law courts and congressional hearings have rung to the noise of impassioned partisans, hurling³⁷ facts (and, all too often, confected para-facts) at one another in a bid to prove the other side wrong.

　　黄石公园中隐藏的道德之争为美国提供了更广泛的教训，这个国家分歧日渐增多，经常热衷于处理司法与准司法背景的复杂道德问题。许多其他国家都在国会上争辩如死刑、堕胎、枪支管理或全球变暖之类的问题，当党派人员推动情感或宗教争辩时，就允许他们加入。早期美国法院与国会听证会会收到充满激情的党派人员们的争论电话，互相用事实（并且常常是特意寻出的侧面事实）攻击对方以证明另一方是错误的。

　　Mr Farrell is not the only scholar testing the thesis that this approach has its limits. Earlier this winter the Faith Angle Forum—a twice-yearly conference bringing together theologians, scientists and political journalists—heard from academics working to bridge divides between science and Americans of deep religious faith. Many partisans subscribe³⁸ to the post-Enlightenment idea that giving people lots of facts ought to be enough to convince them, noted³⁹ Jeff Hardin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a zoologist⁴⁰ and devout⁴¹ Christian⁴². But “most of us hold our beliefs in a tangled⁴³ ball of yarn”, especially in a religious, polarised place such as America. Tug⁴⁴ at one thread, and people fear that their very identity is under attack.

　　法雷尔并不是测试这种方法具有限制性这个论题的唯一学者。今年冬天早期信仰天使座谈会—一个两年一次的会议，聚集了大量神学家、科学家和政治新闻记者—听说学术界正在致力于沟通科学与美国居民根深蒂固的宗教信仰之间的分歧。威斯康星大学的动物学家以及虔诚的基督徒杰夫·哈丁表明，许多党派人员们都认同了后启蒙思想，认为后启蒙思想为人们带来的大量事实足以使人们信服。但“大部分人的信仰都是一团乱麻”，特别是在美国这样宗教化、极端化的地区。这是悬在人们头上的一柄达摩克利斯之剑，人们都担忧自己的身份会遭受攻击。

　　This is not a call to abandon rationality or to scorn facts. It is a call for more empathy in American political debate, and more honesty about the tangled agendas that lurk³⁰ in every breast. That would not end every conflict: just look at Yellowstone and its unending rows. But even agreeing to disagree would be a start.

　　这并不是号召放弃理性或嘲笑事实。这是号召美国政治辩论对于潜藏在每个人心中的混乱议题应该更同情，更诚实。这不会终结所有冲突：去看看黄石公园和它那无休止争吵你就知道了。但即使是求同存异，也将会是个开始。

1 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

2 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

3 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

4 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

5 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

6 amble   

vi.缓行，漫步

参考例句：

• The horse is walking at an amble.这匹马正在溜蹄行走。
• Every evening,they amble along the bank. 每天晚上，他们都沿着江边悠闲地散步。

7 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

8 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

9 bellow   

v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道

参考例句：

• The music is so loud that we have to bellow at each other to be heard.音乐的声音实在太大，我们只有彼此大声喊叫才能把话听清。
• After a while,the bull began to bellow in pain.过了一会儿公牛开始痛苦地吼叫。

10 tottering   

adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠

参考例句：

• the tottering walls of the castle 古城堡摇摇欲坠的墙壁
• With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe. 宜将剩勇追穷寇。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

12 chipmunk   

n.花栗鼠

参考例句：

• This little chipmunk is hungry.这只小花栗鼠肚子饿了。
• Once I brought her a chipmunk with a wound on its stomach.一次，我带了只腹部受伤的花栗鼠去找她。

13 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

14 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

15 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

17 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

18 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

19 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

20 purport   

n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是...

参考例句：

• Many theories purport to explain growth in terms of a single cause.许多理论都标榜以单一的原因解释生长。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

21 custodians   

n.看守人，保管人( custodian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If we aren't good custodians for our planet, what right do we have to be here? 如果我们作为自己星球的管理者不称职我们还有什么理由留在这里？ 来自电影对白
• Custodians primarily responsible for the inspection of vehicles, access, custody. 保管员主要负责车辆的验收、出入、保管。 来自互联网

22 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

24 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 spouting   

n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水

参考例句：

• He's always spouting off about the behaviour of young people today. 他总是没完没了地数落如今年轻人的行为。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blood was spouting from the deep cut in his arm. 血从他胳膊上深深的伤口里涌出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

27 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

28 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

29 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

30 lurk   

n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏

参考例句：

• Dangers lurk in the path of wilderness.在这条荒野的小路上隐伏着危险。
• He thought he saw someone lurking above the chamber during the address.他觉得自己看见有人在演讲时潜藏在会议厅顶上。

31 lurks   

n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Behind his cool exterior lurks a reckless and frustrated person. 在冷酷的外表背后，他是一个鲁莽又不得志的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fortune lies within Bad, Bad fortune lurks within good. 福兮祸所倚，祸兮福所伏。 来自互联网

32 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

33 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

34 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

35 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

36 partisans   

游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙

参考例句：

• Every movement has its partisans. 每一运动都有热情的支持者。
• He was rescued by some Italian partisans. 他被几名意大利游击队员所救。

37 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

38 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

39 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

40 zoologist   

n.动物学家

参考例句：

• Charles darwin was a famous zoologist.查尔斯达尔文是一位著名的动物学家。
• The zoologist had spent a long time living with monkeys.这位动物学家与猴子一起生活了很长时间。

41 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

42 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

43 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

44 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。