Dear Times Standard Editor,
I think Caltrans should leave the trees alone in Richardson Grove State Park. They say the forest won't be significantly harmed by their road widening project, but that is a flagrant bald faced lie. They know what to say to get the project started, and it will be easier to get forgiveness later than permission now. If safety is the issue, why not slow down like between Eureka and Arcata? It's only 100 yards of narrow winding old growth. Respect for the long protected park trees should trump any benefits of the so called progress this would bring. Do you really think the prices we pay for goods and services would go down as a result of this project? Our quality of life is the only thing that would go down. How do you feel about nuclear waste coming into Eureka from other countries and trucked down to Yucca Mountain, Nevada? If the real reason for the "strategic" road widening is to be able to bring military tank trucks up here at a high rate of speed, then people should be even more opposed to it. A lot of people enjoy a slow pace of life, and that's why we live here. Not too long ago, the whole Redwood Highway was an attraction in and of itself. All the reasons why we like it here would be gone if this area grows the way some secretly want it to. Just south of the grove is the county line. Do we really want to become more like Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin? What happened to 2 million acres of redwoods and a once thriving timber industry down there? How does our suffering for the lack of an extra 5 feet of semi truck length compare to the suffering of the earth? All we have left of the old growth are these relatively tiny postage stamp sized beauty strips and now even that is threatened.
People once said Los Angeles would never grow- no water, right? Humboldt Bay, even though 90% reduced from its original size, has the greatest potential of any large bay on the west coast to recover its biodiversity. Out of all the ecosystems of the earth, the bay ecosystem has the most reproduction going on. Deep reverence for mother nature would be real progress. Please come to the Rally at Caltrans, Wabash and Union, Mon. Feb. 7 at Noon. This road widening project is a waste of money. Cut the Caltrans- fat!
Sincerely,
George S. Phillips 3036 Avenue of the Giants
I think Caltrans should leave the trees alone in Richardson Grove State Park. They say the forest won't be significantly harmed by their road widening project, but that is a flagrant bald faced lie. They know what to say to get the project started, and it will be easier to get forgiveness later than permission now. If safety is the issue, why not slow down like between Eureka and Arcata? It's only 100 yards of narrow winding old growth. Respect for the long protected park trees should trump any benefits of the so called progress this would bring. Do you really think the prices we pay for goods and services would go down as a result of this project? Our quality of life is the only thing that would go down. How do you feel about nuclear waste coming into Eureka from other countries and trucked down to Yucca Mountain, Nevada? If the real reason for the "strategic" road widening is to be able to bring military tank trucks up here at a high rate of speed, then people should be even more opposed to it. A lot of people enjoy a slow pace of life, and that's why we live here. Not too long ago, the whole Redwood Highway was an attraction in and of itself. All the reasons why we like it here would be gone if this area grows the way some secretly want it to. Just south of the grove is the county line. Do we really want to become more like Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin? What happened to 2 million acres of redwoods and a once thriving timber industry down there? How does our suffering for the lack of an extra 5 feet of semi truck length compare to the suffering of the earth? All we have left of the old growth are these relatively tiny postage stamp sized beauty strips and now even that is threatened.
People once said Los Angeles would never grow- no water, right? Humboldt Bay, even though 90% reduced from its original size, has the greatest potential of any large bay on the west coast to recover its biodiversity. Out of all the ecosystems of the earth, the bay ecosystem has the most reproduction going on. Deep reverence for mother nature would be real progress. Please come to the Rally at Caltrans, Wabash and Union, Mon. Feb. 7 at Noon. This road widening project is a waste of money. Cut the Caltrans- fat!
Sincerely,
George S. Phillips 3036 Avenue of the Giants
That's great! Thank you George!
ReplyDeleteWater is one of our many resources that we need to protect from the squandering of industry and unsustainable populations to the south.
You can't turn wine back into water...