Page 4 - Sonoma County Gazette MARCH 2020

LETTERS con’t from page 3
Lisa Hug on Birds
birds (see attached). I do like to educate people about what they can do for birds.
located near transit lanes, developers who depend on scarcity of real estate inventory and megamansions for their profits and wealth would be highly motivated to eliminate the trigger - the train.
I think Lisa Hug missed a big chance to make several very important points about our bird population - particularly ground ‘huggers’ like towhees and California Quail
I also like to keep my articles as positive as possible. I like to keep them diverse and not do too much repetition on the same point, and try to avoid “preaching” to people.
I want no part of this attitude and behavior in the counties I’ve lived and worked in all my life. We are already facing unprecedented tragedies
One, the bird population in
the United States has decreased dramatically. On September 19, 2019 the New York Times reported, “The number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by 3 billion, or 29 percent, over the past half- century, scientists find.”
There is lots of information out there about birds and domestic cats. But, most of the information gets ignored because people are usually in denial about their own pets. “My cat would never do anything
bad!” But if people can come around to being closer to the natural world themselves, then they can become more open to the possibility that their own pet could be responsible for some wildlife loss, and then take actions to curb it.
such as wildfire that are directly attributable to climate change.
Two, cats are responsible for
much of the decline in bird populations. The October 2019 National Geographic Magazine reported: “Several years ago, a team of Smithsonian Institution and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers combined data from dozens of previous studies to estimate, as rigorously as possible, how many birds are killed by cats each year in the contiguous United States. Their results were startling. After carefully quantifying cat populations and predation rates (and the uncertainty of both), the scientists calculated that domestic cats pounce on one billion to four billion birds a year in the lower 48 states, as well as 6.3 billion to 22.3 billion small mammals and hundreds of millions of reptiles and amphibians.
Thanks for your input, Lisa Hug
I would rather be able to say to my grandchildren, “I did something. I rode SMART. I voted YES on Measure I.”
About two-thirds of the bird deaths were attributed to feral cats, living wild. As birds’ total U.S. population at any given moment has been estimated at around 10 billion to 20 billion, that feral cat toll would probably exceed all mortality from window strikes, roadkill, pesticides, pollution, windmills, and all other unnatural causes combined, except habitat loss and possibly climate change—a staggering thought.”
Teachers and students who get to school on time without the stress
of getting caught in traffic are of particular interest to me as an employer, but also nurses, lawyers, technicians, people who care for our elders, Marin Subaru employees . . . I could go on.
It does not make sense to be sending our high-quality soil amendments outside of our county, creating increased carbon footprint and reducing the amount of high- quality soil amendments here, in our own county.
Perhaps the best way , for birds, to show “we love where we live” is to keep cats in the house - or bell them.
I have wondered why a rich land developer would commit a million dollars to kill the train. Are they truly worried about all of our tax burden as they claim?
I have a dynamic garden at my home called “Miss Daisys Magical Wonderland” here in Sebastopol.
Walter Muelken Sebastopol
I mean, even if they were concerned about the additional cost of a new Range Rover, we’re talking $250.
My gardeners and I were in total awe struck, when all the plants, in six weeks, were giants, like a jungle, I’ve neer seen anything grow so fast and beautiful. People from around the world come to my Magiacl Wonderland garden, and for me to
My family has lived in Sonoma and Marin Counties for over 100 years. We commute daily, within and across county lines, or to our jobs in San Francisco. We understand that a no vote on Measure I - a vote against
I am writing in support of the re- opening of our composting facility in Sonoma County.
Will we willfully snub the SMART solution to both challenges - adequate housing and green transportation -
to save a quarter on every $100 we spend?
Elizabeth Schott, Sebastopol
SMART Public Transportation
Bring Compost Back
the SMART train - directly punishes the thousands of riders who have regained some sanity by not being in the car three hours a day.
It is the right enviornomental move for our county, in taking action, to stop the out-hauling of our food scraps and valuable green material and provide locally high quality compost here again.
Everyone knows someone who
has directly or indirectly benefited from the train. If you think you don’t, you’re not paying attention to the workforce that our region depends on.
Sonoma Compost, key partner in Renewable Sonoma, has a track record of producing high-quality composts and mulch that totallly enhances plant growth, improves our soil health, saves water, and sequesters carbon, that is crucial to out county.
Not to mention the price of out hauling then shipping an inferior product back for resale.
Hi Walter,
Thank you for reading my article
No, I believe that opposing public transportation and extending a tax to support it is actually the latest incarnation of red-lining.
and for caring enough to comment. Yes I agree that house cats are a
huge problem for birds. In one of my recent articles I focused specifically on the dangers of domestic cats on
If political will ever prevails and affordable housing is required to be
LETTERS cont’d on page 6
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