Bob La Trémouille Reports:
The letter sent by Marilyn Wellons reported on this blog a few days ago was printed, apparently without edit, by the Cambridge Chronicle in its 11/20/08 Edition.
Immediately following Marilyn’s letter was the following letter from me, also with no apparent edits:
**********
Editor
Cambridge Chronicle
Your report on the DCR plans for BU Bridge reconstruction quotes me as shouting “nonsense.” You misquoted the DCR position I was responding to and neglected to mention that I had been at the mike and that my return to the mike was blocked by a DCR/City Council supporter loudly yelling against allowing me to respond.
The DCR representative proclaimed that the DCR and Cambridge have the right to, for silly reasons, take the entire world of the Charles River White Geese away from them and that the White Geese have a duty to find another place to live on their own and then come back.
This is the sort of outrageous mentality by which man is destroying our world.
As bad as this is, the real level of behavior of the City Council and the DCR is even worse.
In 2004, they took away 90% of the 25 year habitat of the Charles River White Geese. They introduced a bizarre wall of ten foot high vegetation at Magazine Beach which violates the DCR’s stated goals for Magazine Beach and blocks access to the Charles River instead of assisting swimming as claimed by their apologists; and they built a wall of plastic across from the Hyatt to keep the White Geese from that grass / food for no stated reason.
They isolated the Geese between the BU Bridge and the BU Boathouse. They then destroyed all vegetation except for what they now demand to destroy.
The area next to the BU Bridge is needed for repairs. The DCR is demanding destruction above what is necessary, so that the combination will destroy EVERY bit of ground vegetation they have left. They claim to be destroying for staging. First they claimed the area of vegetation being destroyed is larger than the area under Memorial Drive being released by the sidewalk project. Now that that has been shown to be false, they just want to destroy because they are too lazy to cross the street.
The responsible alternative would be: (1) chop down the bizarre vegetated wall at Magazine Beach, as the DCR chops down useful vegetation everywhere else (2) return Magazine Beach to the historical green maintenance instead of chemicals and fertilizer and a new, expensive drainage system to drain the crap, (3) let the White Geese return to Magazine Beach where they lived for 25 years, (4) let them return to their nesting area as necessary, and (5) put the staging where it is environmentally responsible, under Memorial Drive.
Yes, I said “nonsense.” The statement was nonsense and my detailed response was blocked with very clear lack of fair play.
