Archived Story
Nature needs saving at park
Published 9:47am Monday, August 13, 2012On Thursday I walked the new 18-hole disc golf course with friends knowledgeable in nature habitats and trees. This land at Bancroft Bay Park is a beautiful habitat for animal life and a wonderful walking trail. When we saw all the cutting of young trees and beautiful mature trees mutilated with all the branches on the side of the fairways cut off, I could feel Mother Nature’s sadness. I invite all of you who appreciate nature and enjoy the beautiful places in our beautiful town to go and visit the park.
This is the perfect space for the Big Island Rendezvous, for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to learn about the heritage of the land, and the area school students, boys and girls.
I totally support the idea of a disc golf course. It is a great asset to our community but not in a place that is historically a sacred native American Indian ground. I could feel their spirit as I walked by the water.
The investment on this disc golf project is $18,000. However, in the Albert Lea Tribune, July 15, 1979, there is an article about a $230,000 grant given to the city by the federal government to restore the park. How can that be destroyed? I believe this golf course project has good intentions for our community, and I love to see people enjoying that sport, but there are other spaces for it. As the golfers traffic through the area, the vegetation and animals will lose their home and they have no voice. We saw beautiful rare birds gathered on the other side of the park that is residential as we witnessed the homes of the small creatures destroyed lining the fairways.
As a community that respects the environment we need to act. Nature has no voice and we are responsible for her well-being. She has endured too much damage already. Please visit the area and form your own opinion.
Clemencia Gujral
Albert Lea
This letter is simply wrong as far as I can tell. I am a disc golfer myself but nature lover first. I have been playing DG for some time and have seen more than my fare share of wild animals (deer, birds, muskrats, beavers and the like) and have never once noticed them being displaced. Every course I have been to has made accomidations for the natural habitat of the region and this one is no different. Ross Brandt has said he/we are more than willing to work with people and the city to ensure the natural environment is disturbed as little as possible. I will agree however that SOME people who play disc gold do not respect the value of the course they are playing or the wold life around it and leave their garbage where they will and yes DEAD branches do get broken when looking for lost discs but a greater majority of us do NOT go out of our way to destroy living creatures. If you knew anything about the sport you would know that many of us are nature lovers and dosc golfing is one of many ways for us to get closer to nature. Also after some research I found NOTHING saying that it is an ancient burial ground for anything let alone Indians. The contract between the city and state was to remove the mink farn and puchase the land for recreational use (disc gold is a recreational sport). I wonder if anyone has thought about the added revinue to local businesses with the addition of a “gold” course in Albert Lea? We would finally be able to host professional disc golf tournaments and have some more huge names in the sport bring their fans and followers who will spend money in town when they come.