Hey, this is turning into quite a discussion. Even if no bird names are
mentioned in a paragraph, I think this particular subject is very important
to birds and birding. I think what you just wrote about the Jurassic Park
fence, Maureen, rings true in many ways.

But, to add to my previous posting, I still wonder what would happen if you
let it go fallow, as it was 20 years ago--mud, weeds, ponds, *no improved
trails* and all. The human population in that neighborhood surely has
changed rather little in the interim, yet use of the fill has increased
tremendously. In part it's because there are more and more birders and
nature lovers, but I wonder if in part it's because there are nice graded
trails that lead into it now, encouraging anyone who walks by on Wahkiakum
Lane to check it out. Hopefully (am I being naive again?), if only nature
enthusiasts used the area, they would police themselves--knowing enough not
to step on duck and pheasant nests during the breeding season and not to
scare the birds away from the ponds, for the sake of both birds and other
birders. There really shouldn't need to be any further constraints.

And by letting it go fallow, I don't mean to let nature take its course and
turn the fill into a woodland; improve it for wildlife but *not* for people
(I'm waiting for the flames).

The thought that Montlake Fill will become a place where one must "STAY ON
THE TRAIL" and "DON'T PICK ANY FLOWERS" (all of which are introduced weeds)
saddens me greatly. What kind of world have we made for ourselves in which
a kid (of any age) can't pick a grass stem and put it in her or his mouth
without being arrested for City Ordinance 2600-B against picking flowers?

You can see that while some are fighting for old-growth forests, I'm
fighting (another losing fight) for vacant lots.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416