Sanctuary View

We feel we must communicate to The Times our disappointment with the April 30 article on the Whelan Ranch (“Bird Lovers Oppose Whelan Sanctuary”). The writer, who was apparently new to the story, missed some points in our phone conversation and omitted key words from his quotes of our letter. Unfortunately, a rather misleading headline was also used for the article.

To clarify, San Diego Audubon Society does not oppose an adequately sized, viable wildlife sanctuary at Whelan Lake; indeed, we strongly support it. Our letter to Mr. Abbey stated that we “oppose the present negotiated settlement of the Whelan estate, and the resulting undersized and probably non-viable wildlife preserve.” By not inserting the words “as presently proposed” in the opening two paragraphs, the sense conveyed to the reader was considerably altered. Had these words been included to more accurately convey our letter’s intent, it would not have been so “strange-sounding.”

Also, I tried to stress to the staff writer the critical need to acquire a triangular 13-acre parcel on the west side of the lake as essential to creating a viable sanctuary’s size. However, no mention of this appeared in the article.

In light of the above, the headline was fairly misleading. The wording should have been something like “Bird Lovers Oppose Proposed Whelan Settlement.” As the article noted, the Buena Vista Audubon chapter has already expressed unhappiness with the proposed boundaries; our response was not that different, though perhaps more strongly worded.

PHILIP R. PRYDE

San Diego