10/29/2025
With UTBT, it seems like we get a few steps forward and then, as in this case, a tragic, heartbreaking, giant step backward.
If you've been out there, lately, you witnessed the removal of the lush foliage that made Rocky Creek Trails Preserve beautiful.
Now, there's is nothing 'preserved.'
The trees are left but ALL the foliage, the beautiful foliage, is gone, apparently sprayed with some toxic chemical. It truly is unbelievable, and the worst part is that it cannot be fixed. It can't be undone. No one can make it better.
Now, that whole area is just plain ugly.
I started to walk down the trail, Sunday, but it's hard to make out where the trail is. No matter, though, there is absolutely nothing to see. Nothing.
Plus, there are no signs to explain/warn about what was sprayed; so, I wouldn't be comfortable back there, anyway.
I've made phone calls, but no one has responded. I will be hard to explain this.
The best we can do is call commissioners and email and get the procedure changed.
This should not be allowed. No person or department should have the authority to unilaterally destroy lovely, wooded, public land, County-owned land.
To my knowledge, this is ELAPP (Environmental Land Acquisition and Protection Program) land. I thought that meant we could count on it being preserved, but it has been destroyed.
If the County ever wants to remove a pristine, wooded area by spraying it with herbicides, that should require approval by a committee of citizens working with an independent arborist.
They'll likely say they were getting rid of invasive species, one of their favorite refrains, but take a good look at the incredibly huge area of Boston ferns in my pics. All gone. They killed it all, everything, a huge area.
A while back, at 2 p.m. a bobcat crossed that trail in front of me. Another day, I spotted several deer. Such a special place. I’m sure the wildlife has moved on.
