A positive proposal

This letter to the editor appeared today in Naples Daily News. It makes a positive suggestion in reference to the recent destruction of gopher tortoise habitat on Marco Island:

Almost putting it back

Editor, Daily News:

I do research on gopher tortoises, focusing on Marco Island’s unique population.

Anyone can imagine how frustrated I feel with the Marco Island Academy (MIA).

After destroying about five acres of gopher tortoise habitat and paying to remove a small gopher tortoise population off the island, MIA has decided to not put a temporary school in an area they bulldozed and destroyed on Marco Island near Key Marco.

The school said its goals included teaching students about Marco Island’s native animals and environment. I think they can do so by comparing their actions with a tornado. Both leave devastation, destruction and chaos in their path. The tornado destroys by natural forceful winds; the school does so through political influence, misguided determination and false promises. Both replace life with vacancy and emptiness.

When I was about 8 years old, I learned a valuable lesson from my grandparents. Walking with my grandmother I would often pick wild flowers. One afternoon as I was picking flowers my grandmother told me we already had flowers at the cabin and I should put the flowers back which I had picked.

I suddenly realized I could not put the flowers back; I was unable to replace what I had taken.

Similarly, the damage to Marco Island’s gopher tortoises and their habitat has been done by MIA. It cannot be undone, but perhaps together we can turn a terrible mistake for something better.

Could this site near Key Marco be a future gopher tortoise preserve? Would MIA lend its support to such an endeavor?

— Julie Ross