[mou] [Fwd: audubon and housing developments]

[SeEtta Moss]

Robb,
Clearly the fact that this involves private land makes this more difficult.  
However, I think it is worth mounting a campaign to demonstrate opposition 
to this development from birders around Minn and from other states (ie, 
birders such as I who subscribe but live elsewhere).  It is best to get both 
email and postal addresses for those comments.  Especially helpful are email 
addresses for mayor, city manager, newspaper (for letters to editor), 
chamber of commerce, and economic development office.  These should be 
published on this and the other Minn birding listserve and any other 
listserve or newsletter you can place them in (with a briefing on the 
problem and suggested talking points).

I have used our birding listserve for problems (but both were public lands) 
on 2 occasions--we succeeded on one and the other is still in progress.  
Getting comments from around the state and especially from out-of-state 
birders has really gotten the attention of public officials in my state.

SeEtta Moss
Canon City, Colorado



>Hi,
>
>I recently received this from Greg Hoch of the Concordia College Biology
>Department.  I thought members of the MOU-NET might have suggestions for
>dealing with this matter.  I know similar problems have been mentioned 
on
>the MOU-NET before.  Any practical advice we can get would be 
appreciated.
>
>Bob O'Connor
>Moorhead
>Clay County
>
>
>
>---------------------------- Original Message 
----------------------------
>Subject: audubon and housing developments
>From:    "Greg Hoch" <hoch@cord.edu>
>Date:    Fri, April 8, 2005 10:55 am
>To:      robert.oconnor@ndsu.nodak.edu
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Hi Bob,
>
>Have a question for you.  This is email is about 3 months too late but 
it
>just dawned on me last night that I hadn't talked to Audubon.  I have a
>housing development going in by my house (NW of Hawley).  I have talked 
to
>  Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever already.  This development is on 
ag
>  land.  But it's ag land surrounded by hayfields, CRP, native prairie, 
etc
>  along the beach ridge.  It is a 1/2 mile from the Gruhl Wildlife
>Management  Area, which is home to 8 T&E spp including marbled 
godwits,
>short-eared  owls, and chickens.  The corner of the development is 
listed
>at the DNR as  critical habitat for shrikes.  And indeed I see shrikes
>along this section  of road on a weekly basis in the summer.  There are
>several prairie chicken  leks in the vicinity and neighbors have 
recently
>started seeing turkeys in  the area.  It's an incredibly diverse area 
for
>wildlife.  A development  would destroy much of it.  One development 
isn't
>too bad, but there are  several other landowners watching this and 
waiting
>to sell out as soon as  it goes thru.  Politically, this is as dirty as
>local politics gets, money  being exchanged (can't prove it but there 
has
>to be), township board  members are business partners with developers, 
it
>was rejected by the  planning commission but accepted by the county
>commission, etc, etc.  I  have attached a write-up I did for the Fargo
>Forum who may be running a  story about this development (told from my
>side) this weekend.  As you can  imagine the neighbors are livid.  I 
think
>we are to the point of going to  court over this.  But with a large
>write-in campaign and an article in the  paper I'd like to put this in
>front of the public court also.  I already  talked to DU and PF thinking
>that Republican commissioners would listen to  hunters more than 
birders,
>but now I think we need everyone we can  get.  Does Audubon have a
>listserve or mailing list I could use to alert  members to this problem.
>Also, would the local, state, or national office  have any money (as a
>donation or a loan) to help the neighbors with lawyer  fees?
>
>Thanks for any help you might be able to provide,
>
>Greg
>
>Greg Hoch
>Biology Dept
>Concordia College
>Moorhead MN 56562
>218-299-3799
><< Forum.doc >>