Bob makes an excellent point, and this is what we have seen in Lake County.
 Once the general welfare clause of the charter was elevated to have equal
status with: Create forest preserves and conserve natural resources,
recreation became paramount in the park system's mission.  Now that the
park system is flush with cash having passed an additional levy, they are
on a paving binge.  We know paving is poor land stewardship and I'm certain
excuses abound, but that is where the tax money is going.

Lake Metroparks has some really excellent and very knowledgeable people who
seem hamstrung by the emphasis on recreation.  It is too bad because they
what they could do would be huge if they did not have to justify every
program with attendance numbers and fees to cover the costs.

Haans




On Tue, Aug 5, 2014 at 3:18 PM, bob hinkle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Not to put too fine a point on it, but look up the enabling legislation
> that created metropolitan park districts in Ohio in 1917, and you will
> discover that conservation is a primary reason for being, with
> recreation second....  there's a great old saying about this....
> "...once you let the camel's nose under the tent, you will soon have the
> whole camel..." I've seen the mountain bike folks go from "..oh please,
> just a little 18 inch bike path and we'll monitor it and it won't
> disturb anything" to "mountain bike races through the pristine forests"
> and a four-foot mudhole trail with multiple  jumps in less than two
> years.....  is THIS what you want for neotropical migrants??
>
> Bob Hinkle
> (forbidden now to say that I was Chief Naturalist of a certain large
> regional park district for 30 years, but you know which one that was)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 8/5/2014 2:38 PM, Sameer Apte wrote:
>
>> Dear Ken and others,
>> While this may be true, the proposed amendments imply a wish to allow
>> motorized vehicles and oil drilling to occur in Geauga parks. The oil
>> drilling especially indicates that the county is utilizing their parks as
>> more of a source for profit than one of either recreation or conservation.
>> It is imperative that such habitat as Frohring (which provides one of the
>> only nesting sites for VIRA in the Greater Cleveland area) is not
>> exploited
>> for such purposes that could disrupt the native ecosystem.
>> I have absolutely no problem with geocaching, mountain biking, or trail
>> running. They are fantastic activities that DO introduce people to nature
>> in a way that does not disrupt habitat. However, activities which may
>> destroy fragile breeding environments found in said parks are an
>> unacceptable way of citizen appeasement for the Geauga County council.
>> Good birding,
>> Sameer Apte
>>
>>
>> On 5 August 2014 11:04, Ken Andrews <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>  Because of some recent posts here about a viewing platform at Frohring
>>> Meadows, I sent an email to the Geauga County Parks.
>>> No definite plans are in place yet for a platform. I was also told about
>>> he
>>> meettings and told that all suggestions are welcome for the parks.
>>> I was sent a link to the Meeting Schedule. It says "All are welcome". It
>>> has
>>> locations and dates/times.
>>>
>>> http://www.geaugaparkdistrict.org/whats-new.shtml#townhalls
>>>
>>>
>>> Through recent experiences with my local metroparks I have found that the
>>> main focus of most county metropark systems is recreation for people.
>>> That
>>> may include birding. But, conservation is usually something that takes
>>> place
>>> just because the parks are there. Little land or no land is set aside
>>> exclusively for wildlife. Just look on a map and find places like the
>>> Audubon Sanctuaries. They are for wildlife. They limit recreational use.
>>> But, the county metroparks are for people to enjoy in various ways.
>>> Wildlife
>>> may benefit. There may be educational programs about wildlife. But, land
>>> use
>>> is mostly for people. Decades ago when people went to the local parks to
>>> enjoy them, they usually went for a picnic or a hike. Now, there are so
>>> many
>>> other activities like geocaching, mountain biking, trail running, etc.
>>> These
>>> newer activities may have a heavier impact on the limited land.
>>>
>>> I am not being critical of the local metroparks. We are VERY lucky to
>>> have
>>> them. But, things aren't what they used to be.
>>>
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> ______________________________________________________________________
>
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> membership.php.
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