A New Year’s wish
To the Editor,
A wish for the New Year — That the world be covered with a blanket of peace under which there is no hatred, no killing, no evil.
Ray Gardner
Watsonville
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Watsonville unites annually to protect wetlands
To the Editor,
Over the weekend, thousands marched in protest against oil drilling in the Monterey Bay, a message targeted at a president lacking listening skills.
Simultaneous and equally empowered efforts occurred in Watsonville for World Wetlands Day. The City of Watsonville and Wetlands Watch partnered in planting 43 drought tolerant, carbon sequestering trees bordering the hard-fought-to-revive wetlands.
As the federal administration announced their intention to suspend the Clean Water Rule in an effort to “reduce confusion and provide certainty to America’s farmers and ranchers,” communities like Watsonville could bear the brunt of these poor decisions. The National Science Foundation recently released a study demonstrating that “retaining or restoring wetlands in intensively managed agricultural watersheds would reduce nitrate in rivers and improve local water quality.” So often these interests are seated in conflict, while protected bodies of water prove time and time again their own value in partnership alongside industry.
Saturday’s event enhanced Watsonville’s wetlands while expanding urban forest, a project funded through California Climate Investments to counteract the effects of climate change. Hands in the soil and hands across the sand, not a bad weekend, Santa Cruz County.
Rachel Kippen
Santa Cruz County environmental advocate
