Letter: Beauty at lake replaced by ugly
To the Editor:
I have never seen so much devastation and ugliness caused by one man and a mower as I saw at the Marion County Lake. Why would a person be hired, by our county taxes, that has no grasp of the Flint Hills and the beauty of its wild flowers? Mowing grass at water access and camping areas are one thing, but to mow areas where wild flowers are blooming, is irrational and a waste of taxpayers money.
There are not very many butterfly milkweed plants, but for many years I have watched Zellers cove and down by the whistle, as their coveted plants bloom and spread their seeds. Now there is naught but trash and ugliness. They now can not produce any seed. Are they gone forever? What about the others — broomweed, coreopsis, cone flowers, asters — etc.? How many years before they come back?
It is against the law to dig up or pick these wild flowers of the prairie at the county lake. Why is it not unlawful to also mow them down? Most of these beautiful flowers are spread from seed each fall, why pay our tax monies to allow someone to kill them out? Some of the flowering areas had not been mowed in many, many years.
The lake is most beautiful when in bloom from early spring to late fall. Please let those of us that enjoy the flora and fauna of the prairie, have some to enjoy.
Shirley Moore
