Letter from a 10 year old
Please see below a letter written by a 10 year old to the Olmsted County Commissioners.
I write this letter on behalf of the Great Blue Herons who live in the rookery that will be in the land concerned in this case. The herons have lived in that rookery a very long time, and we should not disturb them any more, for we are the ones intruding on their land. It is not just the herons I speak for, it is all of the wildlife that will be hurt, destroyed or disturbed if you allow this construction to happen. The area concerned is over 30 acres of mature forest, which takes a very, very long time to grow. And to regrow the trees is one thing, but to restore the ecosystems themselves would take way over 56 years to recover, if there are multiple disturbances, which there will be due to the people living there. There is a lot of the area that has not been documented and much valuable research could be lost. Cascade Creek, which is on the property, has 2 species of rare and endangered mussels that are protected by the Minnesota Endangered Species Statute. Now, I know that the developer will probably not build on the creek, but the pollution and human interference will do a great deal on the local wildlife. The Great Blue Herons almost certainly use Cascade Creek for food and water, as there is a population of mussels, which they eat. They would be greatly affected by the construction and would very likely be scared away due to disruption at the creek, if they have already by loss of nesting sites and human disruption. I know that if they win the case, they’ll probably build when it’s not nesting season, but if the herons come back to a place they don’t recognize they’ll probably go to some other, unfamiliar and unsafe place that will bring down egg production and greatly hurt the Great Blue Heron population, as this rookery is the only one in all of Olmsted County. There are also many other reasons I did not include in this letter, due to my brief writing time and limited available research.
Best Regards,
Gabrielle Granberg, 10 yrs