Editorial: wetlands

As much fun as we've poked at the search for the Carson Wandering Skipper, we nevertheless see the need for wetlands and their protection from things like massive freeway construction projects.

That's why the bypass project and a plan to replace wetlands on the south side of Highway 50 should be of considerable interest to Carson City residents.

The issue came appropriately before Carson City's Open Space Committee this week, because wetlands may be first about wildlife, but they're also about preserving a bit of open land in an urban environment.

Carson City has overwhelmed Eagle Valley, and it will continue to do so until it is built out at 70,000 people. The town has moved from bucolic to bustling, yet there are still stretches of wide-open acreage to break up the rows of houses and businesses.

The irony, however, is that quite a bit of that wide-open space remains that way because it's the path of the freeway. When that corridor becomes a highway, it will have a dramatic effect on the landscape of Carson City.

The Nevada Department of Transportation, realizing that some 20 acres of wetlands and waterways will be filled in by the freeway, set aside land in Washoe Valley to replace those areas.

That's a foresightful and resourceful idea. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to help Eagle Valley.

True, it's only a few miles away. But if it's at all possible, we'd just as soon Eagle Valley not be totally sacrificed to urbanism, while Washoe to the north and Carson to the south are protected for our viewing pleasure.

We encourage the Open Space Committee to come up with alternatives for the state to consider so we don't lose 20 acres of wetlands in Eagle Valley.