Editor:
I live on the edge of the Manila dunes and have visited them daily for the last 35 years. I know them well. Fifteen years ago I worked for the Nature Conservancy as thefirst restorationist in the Manila dunes. Back then, dense beach grass smothered the foredunes as far as the eye could see. Starting with a 10′-by-10′ plot, we began what would be a decades-long effort to uncover the native habitat trapped underneath. Over the years, thousands of students, volunteers and SWAP participants contributed their time and labor and slowly the incredibly beautiful and diverse society of natural dune-dwelling plants and animals began to emerge.
Today one can walk the trails in these dunes and witness the seasonal shift of exuberant colors and textures stitched together in a living quilt unique to this part of the west coast. It is a county treasure that should be preserved and protected.
For someone like Uri Driscoll (“Mailbox,” Nov. 13) to assert that European beach grass is somehow beneficial to our dunes is absurd and botanically ignorant. His claims that restoration is somehow harming wetlands is equally misguided. I see him as a disgruntled horseback rider who didn’t like being restricted to equestrian trails when Friends of the Dunes designed their trail system a few years back. For him to disguise his selfish retaliation as concern for the natural environment is transparent and harmful. I’m tired of hearing from him. Just think of how much better the world would be if people with his passion and determination were to turn their attention to the good.
Linda Lee, Manila
This article appears in ‘The Revolution Starts Here’.
Linda and I both enjoy the dunes and care about them. What should be noted is the change in management that has been taking place without any public process.
Original permits recognized that erosion and destabilization would occur after digging out the naturalized grasses unless specific mitigation measures were adhered to. The disregard for those requirements has subsequently left a lot of erosion and destabilized dunes. That should be of particular concern with projected sea level changes and increased storm intensities.
Instead we are somehow being fed a spin that this erosion and destabilization is somehow beneficial to us with nothing to back such a ridiculous claim.
Meanwhile several significant University studies done by our neighbors to the north all point to the benefit that our beach grass provides for coastal protection and to Native plants! Our very own Andrea Pickart (92) wrote that the beachgrass builds extensive wetlands. Simple math will tell us that subtracting the grass will give us less wetlands.
Since many of these issues have been brought up, those still intent on stripping our dunes have refused to engage in a public forum to address these legitimate concerns. FOD would take great strides in gaining credibility if they would support what they had agreed to years ago, transparent and open engagement with the public.
To suggest this is about riding horses is flat out ridiculous. But it should be noted that our “Friends” tried very hard to close long established trails until the county made it clear that doing so was illegal.
I have a different take.
[EDIT]
Whereas
Uri, with Manila neighbors and fellow equestrians saw a problem (blowout in the Rudd Property fore dune) and used their time and initiative to do do their best to alleviate the problem with
bio-mimicry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22CgOT5aqo…
Manila CSD disassembled the repairs. What the hell! Is anyone paying attention to our coastlines resilience? My hat is off to Uri and the others who are working for stability, paying attention. Heartfelt thanks to you.
County is the Responsible Party (CEQA) I am not sure what is going-on there,
but whatever it is let us hope for a recognition of our Wildlife and Wetland Habitat,
before it is lost.