As a resident of Canary Creek subdivision for the past nine years, I’ve ridden my bicycle along the Park Road bicycle path almost daily to Roosevelt Inlet and the Pilottown boat launch.

Over those years, I’ve watched the creation of the park area cross country running trail, the Lewes Dog Park and the Lewes Community Garden. Succession forest has flourished over the remaining undisturbed areas featuring both native and invasive species. 

Each spring, I’ve looked forward to the chorus of spring peepers, and other frogs, toads and amphibians that use the park’s vernal pools created by spring rains. Vernal ponds or ephemeral pools are often only a few centimeters deep, last only days or weeks and dry up seasonally. Devoid of fish, they allow the development of insects and amphibians. 

New Sussex County regulations may soon require 30-foot buffers around freshwater wetlands, so new environmental studies should be initiated to identify areas in the park that should be excluded from development. Further, the upland forest areas around the wetlands and marsh areas provide habitat for the amphibians that migrate to the cooler surrounding forest when the pools dry up, returning the following spring. These fragile micro ecosystems are often no larger than the bulldozers that would destroy them.

Let’s recognize that hundreds of truckloads of fill were brought in to level and grade the Lewes Dog Park, which might not have been allowed under new freshwater wetland protections. Proposed active recreation facilities such as construction of courts with parking lots, lighting and impervious surfaces will destroy the flora and fauna that have already made the park area woodlands home.

Passive recreation activities should be preferred for any additional plan. Thinning of invasive trees would open the forested areas. Hiking, bird watching, picnicking and continuation of the dog park, community gardens and use of the cross country trail are preferred.

Maintenance of upland forest area on protected public land will allow for replacement of forested areas to be lost to saltwater intrusion along Canary Creek due to sea-level rise.

A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.

To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.