(letter from Don Fong to Metro Santa Cruz, May 7, 1998)



Editors:



Bicyclists in Santa Cruz often cite the environment as their

primary motivation.  Yet recently the avowedly eco-bicyclist

group People Power has been battling environmentalists who

are usually their allies.  At issue are plans to build a bike

path thru the habitat of an endangered species.



In 1992, the city council commissioned a feasibility study

for a bike/pedestrian connection from the eastern end of

Broadway to the western end of Brommer St.  In 1997, the

city held public hearings on the various options.  The most

direct route would cut thru Arana Gulch.  It would take two

400' bridges, cost millions of dollars, and require extensive

paving thru the habitat of a state-listed endangered species,

the Santa Cruz Tarplant.  It would also impact the habitat of

the federally endangered Tidewater Goby and the federally

threatened California Red-legged Frog.



The alternatives would be 1-2 minutes slower for bicycles.



The California Native Plant Society, Friends of Arana Gulch,

and many conservation minded bicyclists spoke against

cutting thru the Gulch.  The CNPS warns that a path thru the

Gulch would obstruct the optimal management regime for the

tarplant (requiring fire and grazing), could alter the

hydrology of the site in ways unfavorable to the tarplant,

and doom the tarplant by introducing competing weeds.

Moreover, coastal terrace prairie is an endangered ecosystem

type, with only about 2000 acres remaining in the whole world.

Fragmenting what little we have left is the last thing we

should be doing.



Nevertheless, People Power has come out solidly in favor of

the direct option.  They argue that the added safety and

convenience of a direct path will encourage more people to

ride bikes instead of driving, and that this effect will

outweigh the ecological damage.



Have they become so focused on bicycling that they've lost

sight of why we're doing it in the first place?  It makes no

sense to sacrifice endangered species habitat in order to

promote bicycling.  That's like cutting off your nose to

save your face.



I don't think their position is representative of the

bicycle community, nor even of the People Power membership

at large.  In my experience, most People Power members are

the kind of folks who want to be models of environmental

responsibility, who want to reduce their impact on the

planet, who treasure biodiversity --- not the kind who'd

want to pave over endangered species habitat just so they

could get to Capitola Mall a little faster.



--- Don Fong (former People Power member)