To the editor:
With public conflict growing over new land development, many wonder about the motives of the NIMBYs who exclaim, “Not In My Back yard.” The current plan for Segment 9 of the SBHT will increase the value of my home and property. The trail’s placement in the road right-of-way will benefit me commercially. Many would say I should welcome this plan. I don’t, and I’m not a NIMBY.
In his 1949 essay “The Land Ethic, writing about “ecological conscience,” conservationist Aldo Leopold said. “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” When faced with the choice between benefiting myself, individuals in the human community, or the community of species, my ecological conscience calls me to stand for the larger good for all of our local living community members: our natural community of species, which we all depend upon.
