ELECTION: Support for the Open Space bond

The people of Kootenai County have a very unique and important opportunity this coming election day.  I am referring to the vote on whether or not to tax ourselves to provide a mechanism to protect open space in our county.  I don’t know anyone who has lived here more than five years that doesn’t comment on how the very nature of the Rathdrum Prairie has changed. This rapid conversion seriously impacts the quality of our lives as the built environment encroaches in on areas where we once felt the freedom of open vistas, sweeping views, and areas to just roam.

There is a serious ecological impact to this encroachment as well. Areas where birds and animals could freely migrate are now chopped up into increasingly smaller patches. The importance of migration corridors cannot be understated as our wildlife feels ever more pressure from human expansion into their feeding, travel, and refuge areas. We already see the impact on overwintering raptors as their distribution changes and their numbers decline.

The one thing that almost everyone agrees on is that this is an incredibly beautiful place to live. Open space is an important piece of that beauty. As development pressures continue we need that open space to alleviate the feeling of endless subdivisions. We need places to walk, hike, bike and run. We need places to just be outside in all this beauty but those places won’t be there unless we make the far-sighted decision to provide for them now. On behalf of myself and Coeur d’Alene Audubon, I encourage you to vote in favor of the Open Space Bond Election.

TED SMITH

President, Coeur d’Alene Audubon