To the editor:

Several years ago when the South Lawrence Trafficway bike path was new, the area surrounding it was undeveloped to a large extent. At that time the small pond on the north side of the bike path near the soccer fields was home to a green heron. I would frequently see him flying in and out of the area or standing near the pond bank in the weeds and brush that grew there. He was a very impressive bird to see, and I looked forward to the encounters.

Eventually though, the vegetation along the pond bank was cleaned up, the surrounding ground was graded and some decorative bushes and young trees were planted in the area. It wasn’t long then before the heron disappeared. My guess is that we improved his pond to the point where he could no longer tolerate it and he abandoned it in favor of an unimproved home site somewhere else. In my opinion, it was our loss as well as his.

Now we are considering an art and nature park along the Kansas River bank. Let’s be careful not to introduce the nonhuman inhabitants of that area to more art than they can stand lest they end up in the same predicament as the heron.

Fred Mersmann, Lawrence