SoapBox

Wildlife over economics

I am a mountain biker, hiker, crosscountry skier, dog owner – these are several reasons my husband and I chose to move to Durango seven years ago.

The opportunities for outdoor recreation are abundant here, and we take advantage of that every day we can, regardless of the season. We are also strong advocates of public lands and protecting them from excess use, new trail systems built without regard to the natural habitat, as well as over-grazing of high-altitude meadows.

We are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful area, but must we continue to push the boundary of destruction vs. protection on these fragile areas? I thoroughly understand the economics of opening new trail systems. I am speaking specifically of the proposed Baker’s Park trail system that has been approved in the Silverton area. More trails, more bikes, more visitors, more money for the local businesses. Who can argue with that equation? The location of this proposed trail system is going to seriously impact wildlife in the surrounding area, but it seems like that was not taken into full consideration when this proposal was approved.

The project area is within elk winter range and summer range. It is also within moose summer range and adjacent to a moose concentration area. It is also mapped as a mule deer summer range. The project area is also a suitable Canada lynx habitat with established lynx populations.

Three universal problems accompany all new mountain bike/mixed-use trail developments: 1) the illegal expansion of the trail system due to social trail development; 2) the failure of seasonal closures to be clearly defined and consistently enforced; and 3) problems with dogs off-leash. The Baker’s Park construction application does not adequately address these basic concerns.

In referencing an article in The Durango Telegraph from Sept. 29, 2022, “Slippery Slope,” there is another mountain bike trail system proposed in Pagosa Springs in the Jackson Mountain area. This is also a sensitive area for wildlife, but as I understand the situation, mountain bikers have been using the area for years creating a “rogue” trail system that will likely be formalized with a lot of money from outside groups.

The problem is, with all the development in Colorado, there are fewer and fewer places for wildlife to go, especially when it comes to migration routes and breeding grounds. I ask that, as users, we take our responsibility to protect these areas by following the rules, like staying on existing trails and keeping your dogs on leash.

Also, our public land planners need to stop prioritizing economics over the health of our wild places. These are fragile ecosystems, and our presence threatens their existence, and with that, our existence on the planet as well.

– Louise van Vonno, Durango

Rewriting history

February is Black History Month. I wonder if public observances are banned in Florida and other places where white people find that sort of thing threatening. Florida seems to be the epicenter of this sentiment, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wants to be president. He wants to ban books that present ideas that might make anyone (meaning conservative white people) uncomfortable.

DeSantis supports prohibiting age-appropriate discussion of sensitive topics in public schools, even though these discussions offer significant learning opportunities as well as practice in disagreeing in a civil manner. He recently rejected a national AP black history class.

Honest American history is “woke” indoctrination, he says. Let’s not be teaching students to be independ- ent thinkers. Just train them to believe what they are told. Indoctrination.

So I’m proposing a black history that DeSantis might find acceptable (heads up, I’m being sarcastic): Back in the 1600s, European ships arrived on the African coast. Native Africans quickly felt a desire to leave their ancestral homes and cultures to something new and wondrous. They lined up in droves to get places on these ships, which transported them in comfort to new homes in America. There, they presented themselves for employment and fanned out through the colonies, especially in the South. Kindly white plantation owners provided jobs and training in all sorts of skills, such as hoeing and picking cotton, and helping plantation owner family members with day-to-day chores. The Africans loved their employers and the work they got to do.

But Northern troublemakers put out propaganda about the Africans existing in horrible conditions. The result was the Civil War. The propaganda continued, including President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that freed the alleged slaves.

The “freed” Africans, suddenly separated from their homes and jobs with their beloved white employers, showed themselves unable to function on their own as responsible community members. Regretfully, whites had to step back in to set things right in the 1880s and 1890s all the way to Tulsa in 1921.

Ever since then, troublemakers have been putting out propaganda about lynchings, KKK terror attacks, real estate redlining, black soldiers being treated like crap when they came home from fighting in WWII, more redlining and other exclusionary housing policies, discriminatory mortgage lending practices that continue to this day, and repeated in- stances of black people summarily executed by police after minor traffic stops or no violation at all.

Gov. DeSantis is just trying to stop the spread of this socialist propaganda embodied in Black History Month and Black history classes. He doesn’t want any fragile white people to feel uncomfortable. He wants them to vote for him. He wants us to believe his sanitized version of history and not ask any “annoying questions.”

– Carole McWilliams, Bayfield

Hitler also banned books

History repeats itself. High school and college students wake up and read what you want, and I’m sure you will. Great books are being banned that open up your mind. You cannot live in a world with a closed mind.

Hitler banned and burned books he did not like or that did not conform to his power in the 1930s to the end of World War II. Now, Texas, Florida and several other states have banned an estimated 2,300 books. The governors in these states are acting like they are holier than thou. Get real.

Book banning has been around a long time, but this is over the top and all for politics and money. Get a book and read; you may change the world. In no way should someone dictate what you read (like Hitler did). Oh, and if you don’t know who Hitler is, read about him and his abuse of power.

– Bob Battani, Durango