Frog Went a Beggin'

Submitted by metroparks muse on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 15:06.

(Or scraping the bottom of the pond)

In yesterday's PD we read the following touching plea:

Even sadder than the loss of our wetlands is Metroparks having to look to cash strapped tax payers for more help. Perhaps, like other local governments, they need to examine where they've spent our tax dollars and save some of that money. They would get double the benefit (= 'matching funds') by not continuing to damage existing habitat. Created wetlands take a long time to replace natural ones, if they ever do.

Where could they find the funds in their own budget?

  - the $4500 Frog costume they got for this years's mascot to go a beggin' in  

     or the $45,000 mower (one of many) that speeds runoff and pollutes the air and eliminates native vegetation

or the $400,000 for turf chemicals (including atrazine - suspected of causing frog sexual mutations and now found to also affect human genes) mostly so golf can create artificial, high maintenance nature-or-a-leash.

or the $60+ Million dollars in taxpayer money they got on the premise they would take care our parks.

I suggest they look to what they have before they look to ask for more. Especially after they've allowed developers to destroy many sites which should have been protected. We're in a money drought, but burrowing down in the mud won't help.

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Every thing you say is true

Submitted by lmcshane on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 20:59.

But does anyone care?  We buy the illusion of green, every day.  China puts a coal plant on line every 5-10 days.  We don't care.  We race out in our oversized cars to buy cheap junk.

By the way, I love the pile-up of vehicles I get to witness every Monday (Free day at the zoo).  The traffic was especially horrendous today as someone was shot just outside Metro hospital.  Nice.  I waited for the bus to the West Side Market with a poor guy trying to make it to work on time. RTA, you are killing your drivers. Of course, the delayed bus was packed to capacity with seething humanity. The system sucks.

But, MM, keep watching and writing. Your coverage and scrutiny forces the Metroparks to weigh their actions and we need more of that for all our public agencies.