wes_von_papineäu
Our Roving Correspondent
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- Wes von Papineäu
THE ENQUIRER (Cinncinnati, Ohio) 07 August 07 Plea: Spare that salamander - 'They're not paying any rent,' landowner says (Cliff Radel)
Crosby TWP. : Drag racers beware. Sluggish salamanders could blow you away.
Opponents of a drag strip, proposed for 192 acres next to the nature preserve that used to be the Fernald uranium foundry, have enlisted the aid of the amphibian that lives on the property.
The critter's case - along with those of neighbors opposing the development's potential for noise, dirt and traffic - will be made during tonight's hearing of the Crosby Township Board of Zoning Appeals.
"As many as 18 species of salamanders, other amphibians and reptiles have made this forested wetlands their habitat," said Dean Alessandrini of Delhi Township. The self-taught naturalist and Greater Cincinnati Herpetological Society vice president is an expert witness for the drag strip's opposition, Residents Against the Motorsports Park.
None of the 18 species at the site of the proposed drag strip is akin to the snail darter or the bald eagle or the whooping crane.
"Nothing is endangered or threatened," Alessandrini said. "What makes this wetlands unique is that so many special species rely on this specific habitat."
The Crosby Township wetlands is the only place where the marbled salamander lives in Southwestern Ohio.
The salamander's closest kin crawls around Adams County. Progress has destroyed its habitat in neighboring counties.
The wetlands serve as prime salamander mating grounds. For that reason, as well as the habitat's quality and diversity of species, the site has received the highest rating - Category 3 - of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The agency must give its approval before permits can be granted for the drag strip's construction.
Alessandrini toured the property before Steve Engel bought the acreage and announced his intentions this summer to build a drag strip.
"We knew that land supported a salamander population," Alessandrini said.
Engel knows about the salamanders, and says he intends to preserve the wetlands. Still, he said, "They're not paying any rent."
That's not good enough for Alessandrini.
"If he goes ahead with the development, grading the ground and dumping gravel could damage the hydrology of the area," Alessandrini said. "Eventually the wetlands will go dry."
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS01/708070362/1056/COL02
Crosby TWP. : Drag racers beware. Sluggish salamanders could blow you away.
Opponents of a drag strip, proposed for 192 acres next to the nature preserve that used to be the Fernald uranium foundry, have enlisted the aid of the amphibian that lives on the property.
The critter's case - along with those of neighbors opposing the development's potential for noise, dirt and traffic - will be made during tonight's hearing of the Crosby Township Board of Zoning Appeals.
"As many as 18 species of salamanders, other amphibians and reptiles have made this forested wetlands their habitat," said Dean Alessandrini of Delhi Township. The self-taught naturalist and Greater Cincinnati Herpetological Society vice president is an expert witness for the drag strip's opposition, Residents Against the Motorsports Park.
None of the 18 species at the site of the proposed drag strip is akin to the snail darter or the bald eagle or the whooping crane.
"Nothing is endangered or threatened," Alessandrini said. "What makes this wetlands unique is that so many special species rely on this specific habitat."
The Crosby Township wetlands is the only place where the marbled salamander lives in Southwestern Ohio.
The salamander's closest kin crawls around Adams County. Progress has destroyed its habitat in neighboring counties.
The wetlands serve as prime salamander mating grounds. For that reason, as well as the habitat's quality and diversity of species, the site has received the highest rating - Category 3 - of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The agency must give its approval before permits can be granted for the drag strip's construction.
Alessandrini toured the property before Steve Engel bought the acreage and announced his intentions this summer to build a drag strip.
"We knew that land supported a salamander population," Alessandrini said.
Engel knows about the salamanders, and says he intends to preserve the wetlands. Still, he said, "They're not paying any rent."
That's not good enough for Alessandrini.
"If he goes ahead with the development, grading the ground and dumping gravel could damage the hydrology of the area," Alessandrini said. "Eventually the wetlands will go dry."
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS01/708070362/1056/COL02