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Letters, 10/15: Protect Spring Creek Prairie

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Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 - 12:55:34 am CDT

I hope county commissioners choose to close the minimum maintenance dirt road that currently divides the eastern edge of Spring Creek Prairie. While I understand the concerns about road access for fire control, I feel the county would be making a big mistake by not taking this opportunity to protect and enhance the valuable resource that is Spring Creek Prairie.

I am a lifelong Lincoln resident and feel that Spring Creek is one of the truly special places in Lancaster County. The prairie is an incredible asset made possible by the combined efforts of thousands of community members who have donated their time, money and support to protect and enhance a place they truly care about. Spring Creek offers a refuge for native birds, plants, insects and mammals, as well as a peaceful and beautiful place for people to spend time with their friends and families.

Only 2 percent of America’s tallgrass prairie remains today, and many grassland species are rapidly declining because of the loss and fragmentation of their prairie habitat. The city of Lincoln and Lancaster County have hundreds of miles of dirt roads to develop, but there is only one Spring Creek Prairie.

The decision seems clear: Our county can choose a tiny stretch of dirt road that has produced nothing of note except vandalism, littering and drunken driving and is used only a handful of times each year. Or we can choose to protect and enhance Spring Creek, a place that is visited by thousands of people each year and valued by everyone who thinks it is important to maintain the wildlife and landscape that make Southeast Nebraska unique.

The County Board has a chance to protect North America’s rarest ecosystem and enhance one of the truly special places in Lancaster Country. I hope commissioners make the right choice.

Brent Schmoker, Lincoln

Tim Clare for regent

I had the opportunity to hear Tim Clare speak about his campaign for the NU Board of Regents, and it was so refreshing that at least one of the candidates running in this race is about more than one issue. Clare addressed issues such as the quality and cost of education, retaining young people in Nebraska, campus safety, economic development — the issues our families really care about.

It’s important that our elected officials can address the broad range of issues to represent us. Clare’s vision of the role of the new Innovation Campus toward development of alternative energy with Nebraska resources will make both the university and Nebraska a leader in this field, creating many business and job opportunities.

Barb Haith, Lincoln

Time for closed captioning

In 1990, a federal law was passed guaranteeing equal rights to people with disabilities. But many people in government, especially locally, do not do closed captioning on TV for the deaf and severely hard of hearing. The Lincoln City Council says it has no money for doing closed captioning of meetings. I feel like a second-class person!

Now it is time for local and national elections. Again I am lost as to what each candidate is saying that helps me know who the best candidate is to represent me, because many candidates do not use closed captioning in their commercials.

The deaf and many hard of hearing must pick candidates on physical looks and actions and not ideas. This is really not a democracy or fair. Is money more important than helping all citizens become aware and educated? It makes me sad if I don’t know what the City Council or candidates for other offices are planning, but hearing people do.

Christine A. Huenink, Lincoln


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Pro Freedom wrote on October 15, 2008 6:45 am:
" Christine, I understand your disability and have family members with hearing problems. When closed captioning is not available and they want to know about a subject, pick up the newspaper, magazines and use the internet to learn what they can about the subject they are interested.

There are people that do not have televisions. They also find their information in other places. When one media type does not present the information you need, search it out in other media venues...the rest of us do. "

 Huh wrote on October 15, 2008 7:29 am:
" Closing a road isn't going to do any giid to protect Spring Creek Prairie. I've had people drive in my planted fields, pasture, and prairie hay. I can tell you they do the most amount of damage in the planted fields, hardly cause any problem in the prairie hay. Vandalism runs rampant in the county. The roads are necessary for through traffic. Both sheriff and fire. Will you protect me and my property if the rescue units can't get through? Will you replace my property or loved one if something happens and the rescue units can't get through. Go watch a bird in your own backyard, quit messing in mine. "

 Darwin wrote on October 15, 2008 8:40 am:
" Dont feel like a second class citizen, Christine. Most people vote based on the candidate's looks, name, or simple party affiliation, not based on any grasp of their beliefs or views. It isnt just those who are hard of hearing.

It would be quite a coup to elect a single person into office based on what they plan to do in that office, and not just based on looks, skin color, gender, or some other totaly superficial quality. "

 ---Dan wrote on October 15, 2008 8:53 am:
" Christine,

Allowing yourself to pick a candidate based on looks and actions is just an exercise in ignorance and poor judgement. There are many other options for you. Magazines, newspapers, and the internet (e.g., the official website of the candidate) can provide a wealth of information about candidates. Please don't be allow your hearing disability to hinder you in making sound choices. "

 Hard of Hearing too wrote on October 15, 2008 8:56 am:
" I can sympathize with Ms Huenink. And unfortunately because there are other ways to seek the information some communities simply disregard the hearing impaired.
Many people in this blog may not be aware that due to a severe difference in the level of education, hard of hearing and deaf individuals may not have the ability to understand some of the written material.
I'm fortunate, I went back to school after graduating from high school and upped my reading level from a 1st grade level to a college level.
Sadly my reading and comprehension level were typical of the school.
So, if you have a Hard of Hearing or Deaf relative and you know they can't understand what is going on, step up to the plate and answer their questions. Help them become informed voters!
The community could also help by having a meeting specifically for the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing, run the ads and have an interpreter in the room. The candidates themselves could show up too and show that the Deaf and Hard of Hearing matter to them too. "

 thank you wrote on October 15, 2008 10:23 am:
" I am one of neighbors to the prairie and have seen those minimum use roads absolutely trashed over the years. Not only with garbage, but with vehicles who use them to "play" in the mud. Even in a crisis, emergency vehicles wouldn't be able to get down those roads when they are torn up. I love what the prairie brings to our area, and that the caretakers have continued grazing cattle, having horse trailrides through the prairie. Francis has to be smiling! And, I'll continue watching the birds/wildlife from my "backyard"! "

 Ignignokt wrote on October 15, 2008 10:49 am:
" As someone who also values conservation, I must disagree with Brent Schmoker. He may understand the concern for fire control, but I feel as though he doesn't have a full appreciation for what's at stake for property owners affected by this closure.

Spring Creek Prairie is most certainly a gem for the citizens of Lincoln, Lancaster County, and Nebraska...but closing a road that existed prior to the arrival of SCP puts lives and property at risk. And for what? To add 0.55% land area to the existing Spring Creek Prairie? The National Parks Service estimates that less than 4% of tallgrass prairie remains. While this number is very low, it is double the amount the supporters of SCP have continued to state...so some fact checking may be in order. I just don't see the additional 4.5 acres or so of land doing much to affect the total of remaining tallgrass prairie...and I really don't see the closure of this road benefiting wildlife in any significant manner.

The road has NOT produced vandalism, littering, or drunken driving. These are problems produced by people...and when bad people are the problem, good people are the solution. Rather than complain about the littering and vandalism, volunteer some time to go out and help keep the prairie (and the road) clean and beautiful. "

 Jeff wrote on October 15, 2008 10:52 am:
" Now if only we didn't have to hear the Tim Clare ads that make a big deal about his opposition to the handful of kids of illegal immigrants who attend the Univ. of Nebraska paying in-state tuition. This hurts no one but young kids who had no say or determination about where they live and go to school. It hurts society because these kids are not are still here, finding it impossible to afford higher education and thus better themselves and future generations. This issue just plays on the hysteria surrounding illegal immigrants and doesn't solve anything. "

 MarkyMark wrote on October 15, 2008 11:08 am:
" Dear Christine,

Not all cities have their meetings televised, so lets be thankful for what we have before they take it away. You should not judge a candidate by their commercials. Other media such as newspaper and the internet are a better choice. "

 And they call me deaf wrote on October 15, 2008 11:54 am:
" MarkyMark, you missed the point entirely. Did you read the blog from Hard of hearing too?
You may have a better understanding of written material than someone who is hard of hearing or deaf. I'm not saying deaf or hard of hearing people are stupid either. The educational level in most cases is set so low that the average Hard of Hearing or Deaf individual coming out of school has a AVERAGE of a 5th grade reading level or below.
This is where the community members, such as family, friends and candidates should step up to make sure that those that are Hard of Hearing or Deaf get the information to make a good choice. "

 Janet wrote on October 15, 2008 1:12 pm:
" Christine, don't feel bad. Life has many obstacles, and some of us face larger ones than others. My husband is legally blind. He read these comments but he cannot participate in these discussion without help due to the CAPTCHA images that are required to submit a comment. That is just one small way in which he cannot participate like many others can. But that is life and we move on finding other ways to get information and express our views. It is reasonable to expect some accommodations for critical services, but there are other options if you take the time to search them out. "

 No Mud wrote on October 15, 2008 2:17 pm:
" You are right it isn't just about trash - that's EASY to fix. When it comes to Spring Creek Prairie - It is about roads that aren't maintained - minimum maintenance. The roads in question are continually torn up by inconsiderate mud-lovers. No amount of policing by the neighbors will stop those activities. If the road is to stay, then the County better take a look at the bumping up the priority for those roads - their maintenance and upkeep (which is now minimal at best) "

 Nina wrote on October 15, 2008 2:48 pm:
" Access to firefighting IS an important part of preserving the prairie. Ever hear of prairie fires? One big fire and the cherished prairie would have to start again from scratch, so better to lose a little prairie to gain a lot of protection. Also, I, too, as a hearing-impaired person sometimes miss parts of political messages, as well as other speeches. At home, I turn up the TV, and hubby kindly suffers from enhanced volume to accommodate me. At church, I sit up front (or, more commonly, at the organ or keyboard). But I surely don't miss out - I read the newspaper, Newsweek magazine, and various websites. My hearing aids are no longer the correct prescription, and until the digital ones come down in price or I get richer (whichever comes first) I will manage as I do now. Of course, someone with total loss of hearing really does miss out on things others of us can enjoy. Side one: Government absolutely cannot take on new expenses such as closed captioning. Side two: Many businesses couldn't afford handicap facilities, either, but were forced to have them. Take your pick, minimalize the problem best you can, but alas, the problem is still there. "

 If you wrote on October 15, 2008 3:23 pm:
" had anyone who cared in the city you wouldn't have to ask government for closed caption. Where I live an attorney pays for all closed captioning on all nbc shows. He cares . "

 no tim clare fan wrote on October 15, 2008 5:24 pm:
" I knew Tim in high school and college and I wonder where he turned into such a panderer along the way. It saddens me to see him grovel for the christian conservative racist vote. This is not the same Tim Clare I knew and the one I will not be voting for. "

 NU Supporter wrote on October 15, 2008 5:50 pm:
" Clare keeps interjecting his personal biases and hysteria into the campaign instead of talking about the REAL issues. His negative anti-immigrant ads HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REGENTS. It's the job of the legislature to deal with who can attend public schools/universities in the state. So, don't try to claim that he is the one talking about the real issues. "

 No Mud wrote on October 16, 2008 3:01 pm:
" The roads being talked about by Spring Creek Prairie are not the only routes to get to homes if there is a fire - there are other routes that the fire department from Denton/Crete could & would take. One of the roads in question (on the SE corner of the prairie) gets so torn up from people who want to "play in the mud" fire equipment wouldn't be able to make it through either - and safer to take other routes. Like other grassy areas in Lancaster County, the praire goes through prescribed burns. It isn't "starting over" or "starting from scratch" - it is planned all the time. "

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