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These grasses and flowers are growing on coal waste and
rock, with a little help from Dave Kaleta. What he dose is
save all his organic kitchen waste and dog waste from his
yard and places it here. He didn't even put seed down .
Vehicles aren't allowed to drive here so plants have a
chance to grow undisturbed. Imagine what could be done with
truck loads of yard waste!
Click to find
out
Thanks for taking the time to check out
our web site! In this update Habitat for Wildlife offers
reasons why motorized and non-motorized recreation doesn't
mix and a solution in the
form of a compromise. We also question if a 6,000 acre
OHV/ATV park goes through, would we just be trading local
dollars for out of town dollars? Please read and forward this letter but most
importantly, act.
Local dollars vs.
out of town dollars
I do agree that having some sort of OHV/ATV
Recreation Park in the local Shamokin/Mt Carmel,
Northumberland County, PA area will increase cash flow into
the area. By how much is anyone's guess. Officials point
to the Rock Run OHV Park in western PA and to the Hatfield
McCoy trails in West Virginia and the increase in tourist
dollars they are seeing there. However, some questions beg
to be asked.
First, will another park cut into the
bottom line of all? Is the pie only so big and will another
park reduce the bottom line of all parks and thus change
projections for a park here?
Second, will a 6,000 acre OHV park impact
the number of non-motorize tourists coming here now? Such
as the birders, mountain bikers, hikers and hunters. Again,
I don't have a dollar amount that these out of town people
bring in but I have empirical evidence that they do come and
do spend money. Many former residents time their vacations
and a home town visit with the hunting season. I have met
with and received work from many of them in my taxidermy
business. I have friends and acquaintances that travel here
from Lewisburg, Bloomsburg and York and as far away as
Philadelphia to hunt and run bird dogs here. I have a
friend from Harrisburg whose wife's family lives in
Shamokin. He loves to visit the "in-laws" for other reasons
but he also loves to hunt for grouse "out the Mountain".
Is their money any less valuable because they recreate on
foot? In fact these same people have told me they would
recreate here more often, but the illegal dumping throughout
the area really turns them off. Many who bring dogs are
afraid the dogs will get in a dumpsite and be hurt. Just
cleaning up the trash and enforcing dumping laws could bring
in more tourists.
Third, if a 6,000 acre OHV park is built,
how many locals will go out of the area to do the same
recreation they now do here and take their dollars and
spend elsewhere? Are we trading local dollars for out of
town dollars? Will hunters and hikers have to travel to
Sullivan or Bradford Counties and spend their money there?
Fourth, is there not an intrinsic value in
places that are undisturbed? That are quiet? That are
green? That are open for a walk? A place to take your
grandchildren and not worry they will be run over? A place
you can let your dog run and not be run over? A place you
can sit and watch the sun set? A place you cannot only see
song birds but you can also hear their song? A place where
wildlife can nest and raise their young without being run
over or chased off? A place where a pond can be a pond and
not a mud bog? A place where blackberries and
huckleberries can grow without being covered with dust? A
place where fish can swim without siltation and vehicles
running through? A place that will remain like this so our
children and future generations can come to see, hear and
taste all these things? I'm sure the Susquehanna Valley
Visitors Bureau could put a value on these things.
Let me reiterate from an
earlier letter. I
do support a broad based recreation park. A park for
motorized and non-motorized sports and recreation. The
problem is the two do not mix, not at all. You cannot have
nesting, breeding and wildlife habitats in the midst of
OHV/ATVs running through them. You cannot say the park will
be closed during the hunting season without realizing you
cannot have wildlife without undisturbed habitat, spring,
summer, fall and winter. You cannot let children run or a
dog run or ride a horse in the same place OHV/ATVs are
using. You cannot have clean ponds and streams with vehicles
running through them. You just can't.
The Habitat
for Wildlife proposal is a compromise between the two
valuable recreation forms that cannot mix. Set aside areas
for both but separated. It's a win-win proposal. The
proposal places the hub of the OHV/ATV Park in the far
western edge of Coal Township westward into eastern Zerbe
Township. Far away from the populated areas of Coal
Township and Trevorton and put distance between the dust and
noise and town. The non-motorize tracts are placed closer
to populated areas so as to allow access by foot from town.
The areas outlined for non-motorized use are also the best
wildlife habitat areas of the total 6,000 acres.
If you think this compromise is the best
thing for the area and the 6,000 acres of County owned land,
let your elected officials know, not just one or two all of
them. Contact information is available in your phone book
and at this LINK
Links to area Officials
Sincerely,
David F. Kaleta,
president
Habitat for Wildlife
Inc. |
