On 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