Point Reyes Light - November 9, 2000
Letterwriter defends Park Service
To the Editor:
A few comments about your recent articles and editorials regarding the National Park Service:
• I recognize the need to preserve the cultural heritage of West Marin, but that honored cultural heritage of ours has come at a heavy price: accelerated sedimentation in Tomales Bay, poor water-quality conditions, the loss of our native grasslands. A lot of good reserving the cultural landscape of the Walker Creek watershed has done for that now extinct coho run. It’s all about finding middle ground and making compromises. We should support the Park Service in their efforts to do so.
• You have implied that the Park Service is to blame for our tourist-driven economy. Park or no park, West Marin was fated to be a tourist destination. Park personnel do not coax the gray whales into passing so close to the lighthouse or plant those beautiful spring wildflowers out at Chimney Rock. Alas, we can only blame our troubles on Nature itself! There are only 6.9 million people in the nine Bay Area counties; someone was bound to find out about Point Reyes eventually.
• Claiming that the Park Service is to blame for changing the character of West Marin’s population by eliminating housing is a ridiculous accusation. West Marin’s housing crisis and changing character are real, but simply reflect a trend prevalent in the entire Bay Area. The situation is analogous to artists losing studio space in San Francisco’s Mission District, but I don’t see those artists blaming The Presidio for their troubles. Seems to me that there may be plenty of untapped places to live right under our noses. I wonder how many local B&Bs could instead rent their spaces to local residents?
• The ice plant obsession. I believe the obsession is with native species and native communities. Removing ice plant from the coastal dunes at Point Reyes helps restore habitat for the federally endangered Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly, the federally endangered beach layia, and the federally threatened western snowy plover. We should all be volunteering to assist in this effort. Have an affinity for ice plant? Plant it in your backyard.
• A white deer! Big deal. The fallow deer are just a tourist attraction, which is what we’re trying to avoid, right? But some residents do find them magical. I think we have plenty of magic here without them.
Your misleading articles and poorly researched editorials are disgraceful. For me, it draws into question the legitimacy of your entire publication. Why not try to live up to that caption we see every week: West Marin’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning Newspaper. Your paper reads like just another small-town rag these days.
David Press
Inverness
Editor’s note: As long as you’re up for the debate, we’re enjoying it. For a re-rebuttal, please see Sparsely Sage and Timely. Thanks for writing.