Re: NANFA-- preserving greenspace..It's not too bad yet.

Robert Carillio (darterman_at_cboss.com)
Fri, 6 Sep 2002 10:43:21 -0500

. People can talk all they
> want, but when they put their money where their mouth is, then commitment
> is a reality.
>
> In the county of my birth, Brevard County, Florida, people ban together
> and buy sizable chunks of land and then turn them into nature preserves.

Here in Ohio, the good news is, the group I asssociate with (The Mahoning
River Consortium), HAS put the talk into action! Some projects going
on...We are currently working joining forces to create a 100 mile Lake to
River greenway, preserving land which Mill Creek Park District will manage,
successfully promoted Howland Township to set aside 200 acres of wetlands
within the Mosquite Creek wetlands, have also secured monies to remove
toxins from the mahoning River via bio-remediation and dredging. I have
contributed to each of these efforts in a way I could be most effective to
help the groups working on these projects, overall goal.

> You cant just steal land from people who have paid for it without just
> compensation. Banding together to pool resources and save wildlands is an
> idea that seems foreign to most environmentalist extremists and that is

Nobody is suggesting "stealing" land. In fact here in the Warren area,
technically, it has been the developers who have sublimly "stole" land by
manipulating and violating local zoning laws that would have restricted
certain developments in certain areas. This, indeed, right in the face of
organized residential opposition of 1000 neighbors in one case. This happens
all the time. I know what you mean about the extremists. There is a group
of religious extremists locally who feel it is their divine right to do
whatever they pleasse with the land, even if it means ruining riparian
zone that would affect someone else's property downstream. I guess
"extremists" can come in various groups of people with various agendas.
It's all about BALANCE, though.

> teach kids conservation (not environmentalism), put your money where your
mouth
> is, and act. One person may not make a difference, but the actions of one
> person can set an example, or precedence if you will, that may spearhead

It is a wise idea to teach conservation, especially in a society like
today's where we can often get very disconnected with the environment. On
the other hand, I see nothing any more wrong with teaching "thinking,
fair, and wise" environmentalism, as I do a particular religion. Maybe
if we had from the get go, we wouldn't be having this discussion today. How
can we "conserve" if we don't learn about and how and why to appreciate the
environment in the first place?... This can be done without producing an
extremist situation.
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