I found the full page color advertisement on page 5E of the Sunday Enterprise Record quite interesting.
It lists a number of environmental reasons why the M&T Baldwin Gravel mine would be a good thing, not the least of which is the reduction of the number of truck miles traveled in Butte County due to trucking in building gravel from outside the county, and the reduction in gasoline burned and GHG’s avoided helping “Global Warming”.
And then there’s the angle that this mine pit will fill with water, and create an animal habitat just like the Teichert Ponds have done when it was used as a borrow pit to construct Highway 99 overpasses. There we have a clear example of how a lowly gravel mine got turned into a nature habitat, and there was no help or “kickstart” to nature as the M&T operators are proposing for their pits destined to be ponds.
It will be interesting to see how opponents argue against the project with these environmental assets it offers.
Here’s how Chico Creek Nature Center described the Teichert Ponds for a walking tour they sponsored of them:
April 8, Sunday – Teichert Pond/Birding By Ear – Trip co-leaders: Scott Huber and Dawn Garcia. Time: TBD. Chico’s Hidden Wetland – the view from Rte 99 is enticing; a large pond surrounded by tules and ringed with willows and oaks. Trip leader, Scott Huber, will direct you through the maze of streets that lead to the heart of Teichert Pond(s). Once in, you\’ll delight in the diversity of avian life found in this \’secret wetland\’ just blocks from downtown Chico. Co-leader Dawn Garcia, an expert at identifying local bird species by ear, will point out audio clues for ID\’ing species seen and perhaps some that are only heard! Expect at least three woodpecker species, a number of flycatchers, numerous sparrow species, a few raptors (possibly a Great Horned Owl), at least three warbler species, some ducks, geese and shorebirds and with any luck, some surprise migrants! Consider picking up one of the great “birding by ear” CD sets to prepare you for this trip: Bird Songs of California (Keller – Cornell Lab of Ornithology) or Western Birding by Ear (Peterson Field Guides).
So what’s all the fuss about over this gravel mine?