More Illegal Activity -- Filling in Wetlands

[Miss Kitty]

First I did this...
Then I did this...:shock:
Finally I did this...

We have gone from the sowal slump to the sowal dump.

 

[rapunzel]

this thread is unworthy of your attention my dear 30gAy.

I think it was John R's eye-licking post that garnered his attention. What the?!

 

[Bdarg]

This has been very bizarre thread.

Bobby, you say that again.

Florida Girl is anti-intellectual, anti non-sowalian, anti-societal and most of all anti-common sense. While I am sure her father was a good and well-intentioned man, as well as, according to her, on the forefront of technology for his time, based on what FG has said, I am sure that is all true. However, if he were still around I would think such an honorable and community oriented man would still be on the forefront of science and technology today and being such would be looking to preserve and restore the wetlands of the area. That is, using our modern understanding of the environment and its complexities to work in harmony with nature to achieve our communal goals, as opposed to the century old high cost Panama Canal methodology of working against nature to make it habitable to man and bovine. Mother Nature has unlimited forces to work against us. One of the main problems with the old Panama Canal approach is that it depends heavily on the expensive construction and maintenance of ditches and the use of pesticides; something, by the way, that our ancestors did not mind paying high taxes to support. In this day, no one wants to pay for any government service, but everyone wants the benefits of any particular service that services them. Maybe that is yet another reason to employ the newer technology, lower cost and therefore lower taxes. It is a shame that gentleman?s daughter has chosen to limit her understanding of the environment to pre-1975 technology and understanding. We have learned a great deal in the past thirty years, both in the ivory castles and the sand castles.

BTW (although I am sure that 99.99% of the people reading this post realize it) neither people nor cattle are a natural wetland?s flora or fauna, therefore, if either is present then it is no longer a natural wetland and thus mosquitoes will multiply unchecked by nature. The reason for leaving natural wetlands alone is that we cannot create anything nearly as perfect as nature is capable.

 

[mf]

there seems to be alot of aggressive railling and personal attacks against anyone who raises a concern about the "status quo" here. i'm personally grateful for the intelligent people on these boards who raise issues and concerns about the environment.

i wonder about the motives of those who seem so personally offended by the suggestion that there might be a better way..?

i think at the least, those who are concerned about the development on and near wetlands aren't saying they have the answer, but simply recommending caution and patience before proceeded. it's like i told sandestin, since you can't re-grow a habitat it's best to make wise and considerate decisions instead of rash thoughtless actions.

one sad example of bullies ignoring the best interest of the community and environment in order to get their own way. :nono1:

despite the fact it did not impede development or planned landscaping, sandestin allowed valleycrest to destroy a small island of wild life in our backyard. against homeowners wishes (and the first time i ever stood infront of a tree!), they destroyed the refuge of an owl, woodpeckers and a gopher turtle.if only the county had a system of checks and balances our complaints may have prevented this.

this "act first, think later" behavior creates irreperable harm and damage. what's wrong with thinking first and helathy debate? i'm keeping this on an intellectual plane, but i think we can all acknowledge there's something awry on a moral level when these things are allowed to happen in a community.

 

[mf]

flordia girl, while i agree with your concerns about mosquitos and public health - you can't contract aids via mosquito.

also, your logic is flawed. filling wetlands does not prevent mosquito infestation, we had a HUGE problem with it right here in sandestin because many developer build lakes and ponds that are stagnant on land they are responisble for and don't maintain them to prevent mosquito problems.

so as you can see, holding developers accountable, will hopefully also prevent mosquito infestation which i agree is a public health issue. filling wetlands is irresponsible and does not show respect for any life.

 

[DD]

First I did this...
Then I did this...:shock:
Finally I did this...

We have gone from the sowal slump to the sowal dump.

amen. :shock:

 

[Beach Bimmer]

We have learned a great deal in the past thirty years, both in the ivory castles and the sand castles.

The reason for leaving natural wetlands alone is that we cannot create anything nearly as perfect as nature is capable.

I linked two quotes together here, as I was quite impressed by BDarg's explanation of how we should be making more efforts to preserve the remaining wetlands in SoWal. Very well said, BDarg. We should be glad there are engineers who "get it" as well as BDarg does for trying to do the right thing as part of their profession.

BTW, full disclosure: one of my relatives is one of the long-time folks who look out for our SoWal wetlands from over at the DEP office in Pensacola. True...

 

[Teresa]

:clap_1: Bdarg for mayor!

 

[Jdarg]

I have been telling y'all he is the smart one.:roll:

 

[jollyroger]

just for anyone without a doubt, I thought I should give the full process of how the lack of wetlands does not decrease mosquitos.

A wetlands is filled in with dirt to make way for housing development.

Then the developer installs a system of canals and drainage ponds. As the community grows the roads that are paved increase the runoff into the ponds. This runoff not only carries pollutants from the street but picks up lawn fertilizers and chemicals from people's yard. This combination is then carried into the ponds where it has nowhere else to go.
As more and more stuff is dumped into these ponds any fish put into the ponds for mosquito control are killed. Their deaths may occur not only from pollutants but also from an excess of algae on the surface of the pond that can be created by the fertilizer. The algae prevents the underwater plants that produces the supply of oxygen that the fish need in the water from growing but also make feeding on the mosquito larvae difficult. Thus many more mosquitos are made because the control is gone.
Not only is this caused by roads but the elevated area created by the filled in wetland produces runoff too. Since the area is often used for a house of building there will probably be fertilizers or chemicals somewhere.
Damage from filling in is not limited only to wetlands. The runoff may also enter the ocean, causing a similar effect there that we call Red Tide.

Just thought it should be good to point out what we've learned in the past 30 years.