Report 355 from the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese; Outrageous situation at the Bumpy Memorial Pond
1. Visibility Report.
2. Status of Bumpy Memorial Pool.
Bob La Trémouille reports:
1. Visibility Report.
On Friday, July 20, 2007, Marilyn and Kathy Podgers conducted a visibility at the Goose Meadow's BU Bridge entrance. I joined them for part of the visibility.
Clearly, people are very supportive and quite concerned.
2. Status of Bumpy Memorial Pool.
One of the nuttier things (of many nutty things) done on the Charles River was the creation of a small pond perhaps 10 feet from the Charles River at the Magazine Beach parking lot.
Several healthy trees were destroyed in the process.
The local animals loved the pool, so, a year ago, we named it after Bumpy, the killed leader of the gaggle.
This year, the Charles River White Geese have been driven away from Magazine Beach in general and from the Bumpy Pond in particular. They visit, if at all, early in the day. 95% of the shore is now blocked to them.
Their only access is through a tiny break near the Bumpy Pond. They leave immediately when dogs start coming. Some of the environmentally destructive lobby rather clearly let their dogs run free as a means of attacking free animals.
As a result, this year, few birds use the Bumpy Pond except for ducks.
Thursday and Friday a mother duck was visiting there with babies. It was quite distressing because the Bumpy Pond is so filthy.
The filth was fully predictable and was a main reason why we opposed it.
The DCR DOES NOT MAINTAIN its properties. The DCR expects the public to do normal maintenance.
The Bumpy Pond is nothing but a hole in the ground which became an excuse to put in a bridge over it.
There is no means of circulation of water. There is no means of adding water and no means of removal of water. When it rains, we get water. If we get too much water, it overflows. The silly clay pathway which replaced a bituminous walkway is eroding because of overflows.
When no rain comes for awhile, the obvious happens. Water evaporates. The water level decreases, and there is no defense against algae.
As of yesterday, there was a depth of the Bumpy Pond measurable in inches. And it was filthy with algae and trash.
But the DCR and its apologists are proud of the DCR not maintaining its property.
And the DCR and its apologists are very happy to limit the DCR's contribution to the environment to make work projects for their most vocal apologists. Silly projects like the Bumpy Pond get built with serious environmental harm and no maintenance. The apologists do not make money out of maintenance. They make money out of make work projects.
So we have a filthy hole ten feet from the Charles River, and the pols and bureaucrats and their friends are fighting for even worse environmental destruction at Magazine Beach.
Outrageous? Yes!!!
Business as usual with the environmentally reprehensible City of Cambridge and their friends at the state level, pols, bureacrats and contractors one and all.
