To the editor:

This is my message to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

I am writing concerning the USACE upcoming assessment of the proposed New Boston Crossing development.

Natural habitat for plants and animals is being reduced at a breakneck pace across our country — all in the name of “development.” In many cases development, like the proposed New Boston Crossing, benefits only the developers’ short-term profit concerns.

Development and all the associated ills that go with it — pollution, flooding, noise, traffic congestion — are the main reason for the reduction of species populations throughout the country.

The development of New Boston Crossing will lessen the livability of the city of Lawrence as a whole by diminishing the wetlands and wooded areas that abut the Wakarusa River. The presence of New Boston Crossing will also disturb the Baker Wetlands directly across the street from the development and increase the risk of flooding in the area.

Michael Brehm,

Lawrence