Over the past few months, as my friends and I have worked to raise awareness of the impending development of the endangered West Mesa of the San Marcos Foothills we have met scores of people who love and cherish their time on this beautiful land.
Parents with small children in tow remark on the importance of the easily accessible wild space, saying that the San Marcos Foothills West is somewhere they can bring their children on a daily or weekly basis for a ramble. We talked to one young boy who expressed deep dismay that the place he loved to explore with his younger sister and parents would soon have “stupid houses” on it.
Bird watchers speak of the remarkable diversity of birds that breed on the property. Photos of Northern Harriers, Burrowing Owls, Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Phoebes, and Meadowlarks, to name only a small fraction of the birds who inhabit the developable space, have been shared on-line as birders work to educate the community about the incredible habitat that will be destroyed with the onset of development.