As longtime members of the Stanton Bird Club, we are pleased the club has recently purchased 2.2 acres of land to add to the bird sanctuary. That is very positive.

Not so positive, however, is the proposed nature center, paved roads, parking lots, etc., being promoted by the board of directors, which involves about 2 acres. Shame on them. Spending precious funds to buy 2.2 acres, then destroying 2 acres in another area does not seem very logical nor ethical.

As lovers of nature and avid bird-watchers, we are very distressed. Forest birds and migrant songbirds are all in danger; their numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate every year all across the Eastern forests. This very small forest of only 300-plus acres is called a sanctuary, which, of course, means a place of refuge, a retreat where one is “free from intrusion.”

A nature center certainly is an intrusion on nature itself and on the birds that call this place their home.

Let’s get back to basics.

We would suggest that the board of directors keep the money in the treasury (to buy more land in the future when it becomes available), take their binoculars and go walking in Thorncrag at the earliest opportunity.

If they keep their eyes open, they may see some beautiful old trees, some with nesting birds, before the trees are cut down, and the birds and their young are evicted from their homes.

Ed and Louise Buschmann,

Lewiston

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