Proposed Golf Development

Re “Hill Canyon Golf Proposal,” Ventura County letters, June 20.

Joseph Smolarski’s letter is a laughable attempt to convince the public that what is good for golfers is good for everyone, including the many animals and plants currently living in Hill Canyon. It makes the arrogant assumption that animals actually prefer neatly groomed fairways to their native environments. That is a seriously flawed argument in favor of the proposed golf course.

Mr. Smolarski strongly implies that golf courses are simply a better version of nature. He writes about the two blue herons and an egret that he saw in “a lovely pond” while golfing one day, and takes it to mean that waterfowl have no preference regarding wild ponds and marshes versus neatly manicured water hazards. This is simply untrue. These water hazards contain few or no native species that these birds depend on. In all likelihood, the only reason that Mr. Smolarski witnessed them at Soule Park is that the water hazards there are now one of the few places they have left to go. Their native habitat has been destroyed in ever increasing amounts to build, among other things, more golf courses.

One of Mr. Smolarski’s most preposterous ideas is that of “prettying up” Hill Canyon with manicured fairways and greens, as well as planting roses, pansies, tulips, and lilacs. Hill Canyon needs no prettying up. The flowers that he mentions are a far cry from the native plants that would be destroyed to create the golf course.

Mr. Smolarski doubts that the golf course would cause the native animal life to leave. When was the last time that someone saw a coyote, bobcat or cougar on a golf course?

Mr. Smolarski closes his letter by stating that when he works at Los Robles Golf Course, the most rewarding part of his day is when he sees children come to learn the game. As a student at Sequoia Middle School, I can testify that the overwhelming majority of the younger generation does not care about golf. What we care about is preserving the environment so that our generation, and the generations after us, can enjoy it as it has been for thousands of years.

MATTHEW LEE, Newbury Park