Robert Morris ("Budget items would flush funds down the tubes," letters, Jan. 1) would have you believe that his opposition to the Department of Recreation and Parks' $1.7 million investment in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area's facilities is due to his fine sense of fiscal conservatism. He neglects to mention that he lives directly adjacent to the proposed improvements along Trotter Road, and that his personal concern is the value of his land if he were to subdivide it.

Mr. Morris also downplays in his condemnation of the bathrooms the fact that the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area is a 1,021-acre park, by far the largest undeveloped parcel within the area of Columbia and over three times larger than Blandair Regional Park. It is adjacent to the Robinson Nature Center, which is on track to open within a few years.

The Trotter Road entrance is the main entrance to the park and is used year-round by many people. However, the limits of its current parking lot and lack of adequate facilities make it an unsuitable location to bring students for educational activities. School buses require space to turn around, and a busload of fourth-graders needs more than port-a-pots. The existing shed is by no means large enough for the upkeep required by the park, and some equipment is now stored off-site due to lack of storage space.

We cannot open up what is to be a truly visionary center of education in the Robinson Nature Center but then provide no access to the park itself.

The investment in the park's facilities should be made without delay so that the park may expand upon the educational components of the Robinson Nature Center in ways that will help our children become better stewards of the environment.

Bette Harris

Hickory Ridge

user comments (1)

user robertcmorris says...

Bette Harris’ Jan. 8th letter “Project will let Patuxent park fulfill its purpose” responding to my Jan. 1st letter was wrong. I do not know Ms. Harris, she does not know me, and she certainly cannot claim to know my motives. For misrepresenting them she owes me an apology. I do live near the entrance of the MPEA, but I do not have sub-dividable land – that is the basis of my concern - I’m staying put and am concerned about growth along this scenic road and the resulting negative environmental impact. I have written numerous letters to this newspaper and county officials expressing these growth and environmental concerns both on Trotter Road and elsewhere in the Middle Patuxent watershed. Ms. Harris attacks me, but we want the same result. Had the Rec. & Parks Dept. years ago chose to create a gravel bus loop and place a few portable toilets, rather than shooting for the stars with paving, bricks and mortar, and heated storage etc. [in an environmental area!], scores of county school students (including my 3 young children) would have already been exposed to this wonderful resource. The “revenue projections are good so let’s go for it” mentality has gotten us into the mess we are in, both economically and environmentally. What’s proposed (N-3965) is excessive and harms the environment. What environmental lesson are we teaching children when we overbuild. An apt analogy would be to build a carpeted walkway to a glass enclosed observation deck on the rim of the Grand Canyon. My suggestion to scale back the project in these tough budgetary times was to not further delay the Robinson Nature Center, and sincerely to help those truly in need.

Posted 3:10 PM, 01.09.09 | Permalink