Eco-Tourism Could Be a Boon for Baja

Reading “Uncertain Road for Baja Plan” (May 14) left me feeling heartsick. Last fall I had the privilege of taking a San Diego Natural History Museum bus tour down the entire length of Baja California. It is a beautiful, wonderful place of great diversity and great fragility. We saw the cirio trees and the sea turtle research station mentioned in the article, as well as gorgeous bays and beaches and spectacular mountains. The imprint of mankind is, for the most part, still relatively light and appropriate for what nature can support.

Mexican tourism agency FONATUR’s plans (which our Mexican guides were familiar with and were horrified by) are bizarre (76,000 yachts), but they will have done great damage before they are abandoned--along with the earlier projects whose remains are strewn around the peninsula.

Why does the Mexican government not think in terms of promoting Baja for eco-tourism, using Costa Rica as a model? This kind of tourism also provides jobs for local people, but the development that goes with it leaves a relatively light mark on the land and does not make excessive demands on natural resources. It also has the advantage of educating local people about the uniqueness of the place they live in and how to preserve it. There are so few places like Baja California left. The Escalera Nautica is a terrible idea. My fervent best wishes to the groups on both sides of the border who are fighting it.

John M. Tibbals

San Diego

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In “Locals More Hostile Than Grateful About Mexico’s Plans for Marina” (May 14), Baja residents are fired up over the possibility that an influx of Americans might increase the population of their peaceful little town, harm the environment and make the local beaches “crowded and noisy” with foreigners.

Here’s the part that confuses me: Americans who speak of restricting immigration from Mexico are derided as “racists” and “hate-mongers,” regardless of the threat that unlimited immigration may pose to our environment and quality of life. But when Mexicans want to keep Americans out because they don’t want to share their beachfront property with foreigners, that’s not seen as racism or hate-mongering. If this doesn’t constitute a double standard, I don’t know what does.

Why shouldn’t Americans be allowed to assert the same rights as Mexicans? If the people in Baja have the right to defend their beaches and harbors from the possible influx of a few thousand Americans, then surely Americans have a right to similarly defend their cities from the ceaseless flow of millions of immigrants each year. Fair is fair.

Jennifer D’Alessio

Santa Monica