Habitat Destruction

I have blogged before about the unnecessary cutting and trimming of trees and plants around where we live. Lots of the trimming is done by landscapers that are employed by home owners association but these pictures are taken at a city park. I have e-mail the City of Lake Forest, sent pictures, left messages numerous times and earlier in the week I called the city and asked to speak to the manager that is responsible for the park maintenance. Well the call never got to the party I requested but I was able to speak to his secretary. She listen to my simple diatribe, my first point; the unnecessary trimming, the second point; the arbitrary law enforcement that allows five landscaper employees to ride in the front of a truck (she suggested I should contact law enforcement) and then the touchy one: how can the city afford to do these things in the middle of current financial crisis.

The telephone exchange was friendly until I mentioned illegals then I was repeatably referred to address the mater via the city web site and someone would get back to me within 5 days.

Well the next day the cutters returned and hacked the remaining plants and proceeded to cut down the cattails. They are getting better at habitat destruction as one time it took three days to cut down the cattails, then two days and now only a few hours.

I have been given explanations for the cutting of the cattails, they don't want them to spread. This seems rather lame as the cattails cannot expand as they only grown in the water that comes from the storm drain and the daily front yard run off and can not migrate and start sprouting up on the grass. The original park planners may have considered the cattail for aesthetic but their primary purpose is to treat the water and one would think a healthy growing plant would function better than one that is repeatedly chain sawed. The plants when they are allowed to flower attract many bumble bees , butterflies, humming birds now they only gather plastic bags and empty cigarettes packages.