Manal Assoula’s speech: Youth Rookies protest

Manal Assoula (Senior, John Marshall High School)

Why you should care about the rookery

First off, I just want to thank everyone here for coming tonight and peacefully protesting. To give you some background information, a developer is proposing to disrupt 30 acres of mature forest in SouthWest Rochester to build 10 homes. This is one of the largest wildlife areas in Rochester and it contains an ecosystem flooding with biodiversity. One contributor to this ecosystem is the Great Blue Heron. 

We’d like to discuss and spread awareness about the detrimental effects this proposal will have on the Blue Heron species as well as the surrounding environment if development follows through. 

Some of you may be asking yourselves, “What is a Rookery? & Why should I care about it?” 

Well let me tell you. A rookery or a rook is a cluster of nests usually reserved for birds that live in groups to defend from attackers. 

In Southwest Rochester, we have our very own rookery where the Great Blue Heron nests. The great blue heron is an apex predator that hunts for small fish and rodents. They mainly nest near water. 

What makes this rookery unique is that herons do not normally nest in upland forests; they also typically end up killing the trees they nest in, but these trees are still alive and well: making this specific heron colony a rare discovery. This rookery in particular, aids in spreading and storing water on cascade creek. 

Removal of the forest will have catastrophic repercussions. It will not only disrupt but DESTROY the blue herons’ home. This will not only cause an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, but we will also see an increase in the amount of rodents and snakes throughout our county, and remove one of the best floodplains in southwest Rochester effectively increasing the risk of flooding. 

Eliminating the great blue heron will decrease biodiversity in Rochester’s ecosystem and would result in a huge loss of scientific study. Our goal as advocators for the rookery is to have this land protected under Minnesotan law and use it as an educational resource for our youth today and in the future. 

We have reached out to everyone we can think of, but without us there is little stopping this development from moving forward.

If my statements were not convincing enough for you, the government is still refusing to listen to hundreds of voices. We elect these officials to be voices with the people's best interests in mind,

But as we’ve seen from the Rochester township meeting on November 10th where over 50 people came in to protest, the township board unanimously decided to continue forward with development plans. 

Why aren’t we being heard? 

Why do they refuse to listen? 

Isn’t it their job to be our voice? To do the right thing? To have our best interest at heart?

Doesn’t that simple concept jeopardize our democracy? 

Why are they given power to make decisions the majority don’t support?

That is why we stand here today in protest against their ignorance. We, the citizens of Rochester, will not stand idly by as land is destroyed and the environment is neglected. WE WILL SAVE THE ROOKERY!