Park docents and Dutra

<p>Editor: Shollenberger Park docents are stewards for the park and surrounding wetlands, and rightfully concerned about the unmitigatable effects of the Dutra project on park visitors, its wildlife, and the heron/egret colony on Dutra property. On an average day, more than 400 people walk the Shollenberger two-mile trail.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>In 2008, park docents volunteered almost 5,000 hours, providing educational services to 800 local schoolchildren, conducting tours for hundreds of adults, removing invasive weeds and replacing them with native plants. Docents also conducted research on the park’s birds, including its nesting tree swallows and the herons and egrets in the colony. One hundred and ninety-five different bird species have been identified at the park. </p><p>Our concerns about the Dutra project are not new. Five years ago, Gerald Moore and I met with Brian Peer and Al Cornwell of Dutra about the potential impacts of an asphalt factory. We were assured of their good intentions and that they would do all they could to “preserve the colony site.”</p><p>Shollenberger serves two purposes — a dredge spoils site since the 1970s and a city park since the 1990s. Many wetlands serve both engineering and recreational functions. When dredging of the Petaluma River occurs, spoils with large amounts of water are piped into the site. This helps ensure river navigability but in the process also introduces small fish and invertebrates into the landlocked park pond, thus providing food for native species. The partnership works. </p><p>Don Bennett spearheaded the approval of the Dutra project by the Sonoma County Planning Commission and is on record as stating that the park “stinks” and that there are no scenic vistas there. He also refers to it as the “dredge spoils site” as if bemoaning the fact that the site also serves an important recreational need for the citizens of Petaluma as its most popular park. Perhaps Bennett should volunteer to become a park docent to learn why we love the park so much, and are concerned about its future.</p><p>Bob Dyer, Petaluma</p>