Environment issue

To the editor:

At least some in City Hall are actively trying to market Lawrence as one of the 10 most environmentally friendly cities in America (Journal-World, May 6). That would be a dream come true for the economic development folks at our Chamber of Commerce.

Who wouldn’t like to attract state-of-the-art businesses and industries that provide jobs and taxes without poisoning our rivers, polluting our air or toxifying our land? Such companies could find much to admire about Lawrence.

On the other hand, few industries that care about their image as champions of environmental innovations and Earth-friendly technologies are likely to establish themselves in a city where there are plans to pave over its most valuable natural treasure. Nearly all wetland biologists would agree the South Lawrence Trafficway is incompatible with the Wakarusa Wetlands.

Any real green entrepreneurs would care that most Native Americans consider these wetlands sacred. The May/June Native People magazine has Kyle Gerstner’s photo of the Wakarusa Wetlands on its cover. It features an article about “Saving Sacred Places,” including the resting place of Haskell’s lost students (“Haskell remembers fallen children,” Journal-World, May 6).

If we are serious about Lawrence’s image as a green city, nothing could substantiate that claim better than preserving the Wakarusa Wetlands. It has long represented the very soul of Haskell. For many, after two decades of struggle to save the wetlands, it has also become the soul of this community.

Yet some would sell our soul for a false promise of progress and prosperity.

Mike Caron,

Lawrence