DEAR EDITOR:
Schizophrenia: A psychosis marked by withdrawal from reality,
bizarre and sometimes delusional behavior, and by emotional and
intellectual deterioration. (Random House Dictionary)
DEAR EDITOR:
Schizophrenia: A psychosis marked by withdrawal from reality, bizarre and sometimes delusional behavior, and by emotional and intellectual deterioration. (Random House Dictionary)
Boy, this definition fits to a “T” the role and thinking of our environmental impact people in their demands in regard to the tiger salamander. Note the demands upon the developers such as the land required to be set aside for this amphibian. First and foremost, the tiger salamander is not an endangered specie. It is a sup-specie and if all the tiger salamanders in the world disappear, the specie of salamander will continue to thrive unimpaired.
So, why all this fuss over this little creature? It truly defies logic. The environmentalists, through the Department of Fish and Game, demand that the developer set aside (in the Mesa Ridge Development) one third of his land to accommodate the tiger salamander habitat. This set-aside denies the land owner his development right without compensation. Where are we? In the USSR under Joe Stalin? This loss of property for development increases the price of new houses – impairing affordable housing.
Just how is it that the environmentalists can claim, and the fish and game enforce, that an area is tiger salamander habitat? We have a local church in Gilroy with six acres to develop, but they cannot because it is claimed to be tiger salamander territory. This despite a tiger salamander never having been found on the property.
A few years back I approached the biologist who established the claim that a portion of Shapell property was a tiger salamander breeding ground and therefore must not be developed for housing. Having tromped and ridden horseback over the property for more than 30 years, I asked him where he’d found the tiger salamander. I have seen hundreds of brown salamanders, but never a tiger salamander.
He replied that he’d found one at midnight in a gopher hole (using a flashlight) on Shapell property off Miller Avenue. I said, “I think that salamander was a plant.” He glared at me in indignation. I asked him if he had permission to trespass on the property. No answer. I asked him if the land owner was with him to verify the find. No answer.
So you see, this whole salamander scheme is a hoax, planned by the environmentalists to block development, maintain open space, and preserve the hillside view.
It’s a “dog in the manger fable” in action. They’ve got their development and home and others cannot get theirs – it spoils our view! It’s beyond belief that owners are denied their property rights without compensation, and a church cannot utilize its property. All the result of a myth about an endangered Specie that has not even been seen and may not exist on the property. Our society is truly schizophrenic. May the good Lord forgive our stupidity.
Joseph G. McCormack, Gilroy
Submitted thursday, Feb. 5
