As a follow-up to my earlier letter regarding the diversity lost at the Ridge Nature Area, a direct result of activities being taken by Southern Conservation Trust, the following relates more of the problem.
Virtually all of my attempts to get the Trust to cease destruction of sensitive natural resources have failed. Most recently, I had asked, on at least three occasions, as to who they were dealing with in the city of Fayetteville government. I asked because time after time, they answered by telling me it was what the city wanted.
I just don’t believe that the city of Fayetteville is OK with bulldozing orchids, or any of the other destructive projects. As close to an answer as I received was, “Numerous — two administrations and two sets of staff.” Not the answer I needed.
In my first letter on this topic, I described the loss of uncommon orchids. But it is more than just the loss of the orchid beds. On several occasions, I had told them there was an Indian artifact, probably a Creek Indian grinding stone partly buried near the base of a tree. For security reasons, I had not put the GPS coordinates on record; it seemed best to show them.
Also, it was illegal for me to dig it up, so I notified Southern Conservation Trust and told them, as managers for the city, they should request a licensed archeologist to investigate, record the find and remove the artifact to a secure location.
A few weeks ago, I looked again and the stone is gone. Someone, probably from Fayette County, dug it up and now owns a prize artifact. Maybe not a big deal, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a representative of the Creek Indian Nation will be upset to learn that a piece of their heritage is sitting on someone’s bookshelf right now. And you have only the Trust to thank for the loss.
Regarding natural diversity, the following quote is from a flyer the Trust uses to attract donations: “Everything in the natural world is connected. An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things that work together. We depend on the integrity of our local environment. It’s up to us to protect it.” It would be really nice if they would live up to what they advertise.
In August of 2013, the Southern Conservation Trust published the following document, “Architectural Standards for Nature Area Structures and Improvements.” Within a section of that document where landscape planning is discussed, it says: “Avoid building in sensitive wildlife or riparian areas.”
Yet my messages, as well as from other knowledgeable individuals, has been that the bulldozers are going to destroy too much; or, the picnic area should be smaller; or, the proposed location for a new amphitheater will be in the middle of Eastern box turtle habitat, and other similar concerns.
There is even consideration for holding cross country races along the “nature” trails. Yeah, that really makes sense for how to treat a very sensitive nature area. Hard to believe that the Trust has the word Conservation as their middle name.
Dennis Chase
Fayetteville, Ga.
