Tree cutting due to natural gas pipeline. Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune
“Losing Trees but Saving ‘Hoot’ Habitat” – a cutesey title implying the story is about something not terribly serious. When wildlife loses habitat it’s a very serious matter and can sometimes lead to extinctions.
Besides all the other pollution threats and CO2 issues from burning and extracting fossil fuels, a new natural gas pipeline in the northern U.S. comes with a new level of audacity. It’s going to be built across a protected forest reserve! Originally, the natural gas company wanted it to go right through the reserve, but hard work on the part of many people got it rerouted to the perimeter of the park. Still, as a result, they are cutting down the trees and destroying the ecosystems, endangering wildlife. Keep in mind this is not going across some rich corporate farmers land, this is going across an official park reserve. Do other forests even have a chance if we can’t protect our official reserves? It seems obvious that this is the purpose of the reserve. Where fossil fuels like natural gas are involved, the powers that be don’t seem to care. There is a lot of money and a lot of profits to consider, after all.
This is from the Lake Rebecca website:
A gently rolling Big Woods landscape and numerous wetland areas make up the beautiful Lake Rebecca Park Reserve. In addition to the many opportunities for outdoor fun you’ll find here, this park is also a haven for wildlife and is part of the Three Rivers Park District Trumpeter Swan restoration program. We take care to preserve the natural beauty of this park through the efforts of our Natural Resources division.
Trail closures due to Northern Natural Gas pipeline project:
- Turf Horse/Hiking trail - Much of the horse trail system is currently closed, and there is no access from parking lots.
- Paved hiking and biking trails – Will experience temporary closures on portions of the trails in the pipeline corridor. Watch for signs.
- Snowmobile trails - Expected to be closed for the 2009-10 season. [That's a good side effect. Keep them closed.]
Why is this legal? Also, we would like to know is how often this happens in various states around the U.S. Send in your reports, if this is happening in your state, please contact us.
Here is the story from the Star Tribune.
“Nearly 5,000 trees, some of them 100-year-old maples and basswoods, are coming down in Lake Rebecca Park Reserve in Rockford to clear the path for a $350 million, 221-mile Northern Natural Gas Co. pipeline expansion.
Tree-cutting for the pipeline started this week along a corridor 30 yards wide and 4.25 miles long through the parkland. Construction has been strictly scheduled to avoid disturbing winter nesting by Great Horned Owls. Owl nesting places are to be moved as trees are cut.” [Good luck with that].
Does this strike anyone else as insane? Why do these pipelines need such a “direct route” — to maximize their profits? Of course. And to prevent spills. But they could do that also by simply packing up and giving up on this pipeline.
This is happening in Lake Rebecca Park Reserve in Rockford, Minnesota. Tree cutting has already begun. The Great Horned Owl that makes the trees its home are being forced to evacuate, and the nests are evacuating with the owls. No one knows what is happening to the other wildlife in the area.
*(I do not know that the scientists highlighted in the recent email leak were drunk. I’m simply using a well-known device that the right-wingers use when talking about climate change science and every political topic they talk about, a device technically called making things up.)
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