Supervisors Should Be Newest Camp Inmates

Re “Lack of Permits Halts Grading at Juvenile Camp,” April 30

Thank you for your article. It is hard to believe that an organization responsible for overseeing justice can so easily break the law. The Rancho Potrero Leadership Academy, a youth detention center run by the Orange County Probation Department, seems to have little regard for the law.

This really is no surprise in a county known for fiscal irresponsibility. This project is a financial and environmental disaster. The only way taxpayers and the environment will be saved is if they build the jail and throw our Orange County Board of Supervisors in it. At $200,000 a bed, they will be comfortable and the rest of us will feel safe.

Paul Arms

Huntington Beach

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I see it as foolish to spend money to improve the boys’ ranch in Trabuco Canyon when there is a more convenient and cost-effective alternative--relocating the ranch to the El Toro Marine base. Why impact the canyon when you have an area that has the infrastructure as well as public transportation to serve relatives of some of those who will be incarcerated there? Our government should seek ways to increase the buffer between the national forest and development. One way to do that is to use the base to house needed facilities instead of putting them in areas that would be better left untouched or converted into parks.

Chris Vargas

Cypress

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I’m writing about the virgin habitat that has been destroyed by crews operating without proper permits. I do not like to be stereotyped as a tree hugger or environmental activist. The Live Oak Canyon road on the way to Trabuco Canyon has oak trees overhanging the road. When you enter the area, you lose track of time and place. At that moment you could be anywhere in the world.

If you allow this outrage to continue, it will be only the beginning of the destruction of the entire area, reaching from Santiago Canyon to Rancho Santa Margarita. I’m concerned that the birds and trees can’t live the way they were meant to live. We’re wrong if we think that we can pave over all of Orange County and still have the mental health that we are barely holding on to by a string.

Connie Tolman

Foothill Ranch

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Thursday, April 25, was national tree day, also known as Arbor Day. I have seen the destruction in the Trabuco Canyon area near the Joplin Youth Center, where county officials have been cutting down live oak trees. They are supposedly trying to clear the land to build a parking lot for the Joplin Youth Center. I do not understand why they have the right to kill live oaks.

Destruction of wild habitat is against the law, so why does the county have the right to do so?

Jessica Bunkis

Coto De Caza