Editor, The News:
Having extensively toured the southern U.S. in the past couple of years, one can only marvel at how well they preserve and protect the wetlands.
Through the tireless efforts of Ducks Unlimited and other conservation organizations, vast areas have been preserved in perpetuity.
Even those areas in close proximity to major population centres remain relatively unspoiled by human encroachment.
Then there is the Pitt Polder. Formerly one of the wonders of the Lower Mainland for its diversity of wildlife and pristine wilderness, the area is now almost unrecognizable.
Vast areas of the Polder have been virtually stripped of all vegetation by greedy, uncaring developers.
Drainage sloughs have been filled in, while at the same time vast amounts of water has been diverted from local rivers to irrigate the cranberry fields that now cover the majority of the Polder.
All that is left is the Pitt Marsh, where a demarcation line has been drawn to preserve the remaining wetlands in the vicinity of Pitt Lake.
The destruction of the Polder is a classic example of what happens when money-hungry municipalities give free rein to developers, without thought as to the consequences of their short-sighted decisions.
George Clarke
Maple Ridge
