[vincesanity82]

Pocono Raceway is now in competition with the Wildlands Conservancy to buy 522 acres from Bethlehem's water authority. While the conservancy has been open about its interest, bids opened Wednesday gave officials their first news of the race track's plans. The land, north of Interstate 80 in Monroe County, is prized for its plant and wildlife, but is not needed for the Bethlehem Authority's water business. The proceeds from sale of the land, appraised at $1.9 million, would help shore up the ailing water authority's finances. -- Allentown Morning Call

Nature vs. NASCAR in big land purchase -- themorningcall.com

[PenelopePitStop]

Same thing happened at Loudon ... sort of. Trust me, Loudon is so far off the beaten track, I'm surprised it's on the map.

Bahre destroyed a lot of beautiful land to expand NHIS, not to mention when he expanded the parking/RV lot.

The "neighbors" complained about the noise and destruction of the woods. Neighbors? There's a very small house along Rt. 106 about every 5 miles or so. I have no idea where these people buy groceries!

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by PenelopePitStop

Same thing happened at Loudon ... sort of. Trust me, Loudon is so far off the beaten track, I'm surprised it's on the map.

Bahre destroyed a lot of beautiful land to expand NHIS, not to mention when he expanded the parking/RV lot.

The "neighbors" complained about the noise and destruction of the woods. Neighbors? There's a very small house along Rt. 106 about every 5 miles or so. I have no idea where these people buy groceries!

Penny .. we're yankees ... we grow our stuff in the gah-den

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Penny .. we're yankees ... we grow our stuff in the gah-den

Damn Yankees

[PenelopePitStop]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Penny .. we're yankees ... we grow our stuff in the gah-den

Cute, LSC, cute!







http://www.smileycentral.com/sig.jsp?pc=ZSzeb098&pp=ZN

[vincesanity82]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Penny .. we're yankees ... we grow our stuff in the gah-den

yeah, I know what you grow in your gah-den..and so does herb..

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by vincesanity82

yeah, I know what you grow in your gah-den..and so does herb..

Easy Vince ... that's Bette's gah-den that you are talking about.

[Racer Duck]

I don't have an opinion, yet, on this story.

BUT

(you knew that was coming, didn't you?)



Here's a snippet from the referenced newpaper article:

Part of the property contains features that environmental groups don't want to see fall into the hands of developers. The features include vernal pools -- seasonal wetlands where frogs, salamanders and other amphibians converge in the spring to mate, leaving behind eggs protected from hungry fish.

Chris Kocher, president of the Wildlands Conservancy, said his group is teaming up with other conservation groups to buy the land. He said he could not say too much because of the negotiations, but said the conservancy is interested in protecting open space and giving people access to natural areas

''From an ecological standpoint, this property is very significant,'' Kocher said.

The Wildlands Conservancy of Monroe County, PA, doesn't know what power they have.

A number of years ago some "environmentalists", opposed to Austin's growth found the key: endangered species. What they found west of Austin (in the direction of Austin's primary growth) was nesting sites of the Black-Capped Vireo, a small bird known to occur in Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas.

All of a sudden, Federal marshalls, Fish & Game Wardens, and other Federal officials brought a halt to all development in this prime land. Before long, the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge was created on land basically confiscated from it's owners (bought for a pittance because nothing could be built on it rendering it useless to developers) and additional thousands of acres of prime land also rendered useless to it's owners - some have tried sueing to regain the right to do what they wish with their land, but the Feds (bouyed by Environmentalists backing) refuse to budge. It's so bad these land owners can't even build a barn without the Feds approval.

Now, I don't know what Pocono Speedway wants with the land, but I'll bet they aren't interested in preserving environmental "features" which "include vernal pools -- seasonal wetlands where frogs, salamanders and other amphibians converge in the spring to mate, leaving behind eggs protected from hungry fish."

Since the area is mostly rural and vacation resort oriented, I can see where both sides are coming from. I suspect where they'll meet is at a Federal Judge's Court.

All the environmentalists need to do is find one salamander, frog, bug, fish or bird whose numbers are drastically declining .. and a zealous environmentalist or two...




On 2nd thought, I do have an opinion .. I just haven't decided which side I'm on .. the developer (Pocono Raceway) or the environmental group (Wildlife Conservancy). But right now I think you know which way I'm leaning...

[SpaceCadet]

I'm very curious to know what Pocono would want it for. I can't imagine it would be to add more parking or RV spots. We were there in June and there were plenty of RV spots open, tons of them and the only problem with parking is leaving. There's more than enough room to park. It will be interesting to see what they have planned. I'm more inclinded to side with the salamanders.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

IOn 2nd thought, I do have an opinion .. I just haven't decided which side I'm on .. the developer (Pocono Raceway) or the environmental group (Wildlife Conservancy). But right now I think you know which way I'm leaning...

I think you and I are on the same side on this one, Ducks.

On this one my basic bopttom line is two fold;
one- "Tree huggers" are bad for this country. They want to stifle our economy and they want to do away with private property rights.
two - Our Imperial Federal government never got involved in a problem it couldn't make worse.

If perchance we aren't in the same corner, thats where I am, anyway.

[PenelopePitStop]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

one- "Tree huggers" are bad for this country. They want to stifle our economy and they want to do away with private property rights.

Oh, how I hesitate as I type this. I'll be black-balled for sure.

"Tree huggers" is such a negative nomenclature. No, I am not a tree-hugger, but I do care about our environment. No, I am not an activist in any way. I agree, there are fantics out there, but I'm not so sure they stifle our economy as much as our own government does. For the "little man" that is. However, private property rights are just that ... private.

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

two - Our Imperial Federal government never got involved in a problem it couldn't make worse.

Now THAT I agree with wholeheartedly.