Paulin Creek Preserve
This may concern many of the folks who make frequent observations near Santa Rosa. Just drawing from the list of people who've done a lot locally, I'd think of @direbecca , @thoth, @dave-barry , @richardwasson , @c_michael_hogan , @nelruzam , @evelynch , @kestrel , @bjoelle , @loarie ,@curiousgeorge61 , @kueda, @cjs041 and many others. If you see this and know anyone else, please pass it on!
What's at stake here is the apparent determination of Sonoma County authorities to renege on a gentleperson's agreement made more than a decade ago to leave an 88 acre parcel along Paulin Creek in it's natural state. Instead, it's now proposed to throw this nice meadow and creek into a deal to sell a nearby, non adjacent and very much larger tract to a developer for apartment development. Those of you who read our local paper may have seen a few articles about this scheme:http://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/6817499-181/close-to-home-paulin-creek?artslide=0
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6780352-181/santa-rosa-meadow-up-for?ref=related&artslide=0
I realize that this is rather small potatoes as these things go. Still, it is a brazen move that should be stoutly resisted by right-thinking citizens. Think of the 'broken-window' theory of community policing applied to conservation: even small vandalisms should be suppressed, if we wish to avoid anarchy.
While there are many things one might do to help--and I'd be the last to discourage you-- what I'd like to see first really requires no great sacrifice. Just check out the new Paulin Creek Preserve place page on Inat, take the opportunity to visit, and add your observations. My hope is that documenting the biodiversity will raise the profile of this small urban preserve, hearten the more muscular activists, and generally make it more difficult for the County Supervisors to pull the trigger. Lets see what we can do!
Respectfully; John Hibbard
