The terminal illness of Developmania

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Letters to the Editor

Posted: 03/18/2010 06:21:50 AM PDT

Did AVATAR remind you of Humboldt too?

The lovely people of Pandora, like us, have vital relationships with their thriving forests and waters.

Where else are there magical forests with rare, precious creatures so vividly imitated in the film? In Humboldt, we still have our exquisite beauty and interdependent ecosystems with life-affirming sweet, clean air and water. Salmon still spawn in our streams and, if we care enough, may one day thrive again.

Unfortunately for the Pandorans, their magical forests covered precious Unobtainium which the humans coveted. The Pandorans were united in their understanding and love for what they had, but they were up against angry men who had already killed planet Earth and who were threatening the same to Pandora.

In Humboldt's Pandora, we had gold, timber, and salmon. Now, we have Developanium under our former forests and verdant pastures, and Developmaniacs want it.

With broad government support, but little public input, Caltrans is close to realigning the magical Richardson Grove -- home to salmon, murrelets and interconnected giant redwoods -- to allow north-south STAA truck access to our County.

This unnecessary boondoggle will open Humboldt County irrevocably to the Developmaniacs and their smelly, noisy, destructive traffic.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to meet our commercial needs that do not risk our magic.

Please in the upcoming elections for Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, let us
vote only for those candidates who don't exhibit the terminal illness of Developmania. Once we lose it folks, it's gone forever.

Meighan O'Brien

McKinleyville