What’s up with the appraiser?

Dear Editor:

I read Russell Tuff’s column, “Property taxes down...” and I guess it depends on where you live and how you look at it.

If the middle column on the property tax notice applies, then my net property taxes also went down, thanks to Save Our Homes and the increase in Homestead Exemption.

Incredibly, the assessed value of my coach home in Pelican Marsh was actually increased by 3% and the market value Increased by 5%. Where do they get this data? I see market value in the Marsh off by 20-30% from the peak in early 2006 and easily down another 10% in the last year.

Rudy DuBay

Naples

Canals are being overlooked

Dear Editor:

I believe we should focus our efforts on conservation of one of our most precious local treasures -- our canal systems. I believe our systems should be clear and clean, supporting wildlife and encouraging recreation.

Improving and maintaining canal conditions should be a county priority. Clean water canal systems prevent devastating consequences to our water, wetlands, and wildlife of this area.

Last week, I spoke to John Fury, a biologist for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission to express my dismay the last time SFWM sprayed our canal system with poison to kill the aquatic plants. We experienced a fish kill and the water had a bad odor and was a metallic green color for weeks.

John explained that the fish kill was probably not due directly to the chemical, but from lack of oxygen due to defoliation and adverse conditions.

We discussed two changes that could eliminate future disasters in the Golden Gate city area. -- no more than 25 percent of the canal system should be sprayed at one time.

-- investigate the introduction of grass carp by FWC. Grass carp can be an effective biological control agent for some varieties of submerged aquatic soft-stemmed vascular plants (such as hydrilla) and branched algae. Under the proper conditions, grass carp may provide aquatic plant control which is longer lasting, more economical, and is less labor intensive than chemical or mechanical control methods.

Patricia Spencer

Golden Gate

Let’s not ride roughshod

Dear Editor:

I appreciate the comments made by Brian McMahon, but I have to answer his comment that creating the North Regional Park caused more damage than ‘some tire tracks.’ He also mentions the damage caused by creating tennis courts, baseball courts and hiking and biking trails.

There is a huge difference. These facilities are created within the municipal boundaries, and have to be set aside for an increasing population. They were already ‘spoiled,’ and wildlife such as the endangered panther, black bear and others did not live there any more. Hiking trails do not disturb wildlife to any extent unless they access a breeding area.

The ‘few’ tire tracks constitute swathes of damage sometimes a hundred yards wide and getting wider each rainy season, which will never return to their original state. When the original land is disturbed, exotic plants move in and start to take over the neighboring areas too. When wildlife is disturbed, it affects breeding and drives them into inhabited areas where they are killed by motor vehicles, and human residents.

South Florida depends a great deal on tourism, and this does not just include fishing, and beach activities. A large number of visitors, foreign and domestic, seek the adventure of visiting natural scenery and observing wildlife. As I mentioned in my letter to the editor, the Big Cypress and Everglades National Park have now reached rock bottom in the National Geographic list of parks worth visiting. This is testimony to the selfish attitudes that have prevailed here too long, that the local natural environment belongs to local residents and is their right to trash.

I support any plan to create a special park for ATV use, but let’s not ride roughshod over the remaining wilderness and destroy it for future generations.

Anthony Marx

Golden Gate Estates

No wonder the big cats roam

Dear Editor:

It’s little wonder that the lion and tiger that escaped from McCarthy’s Wildlife Center in Loxahatchee longed to be free of the chain-link cage that makes up their world. These naturally free-roaming animals are being driven insane by the deprivations of captivity.

People cage them, chain them, and deny them everything they want and need, but tigers and lions are not pets. The very essence of big cats makes captivity a living hell for them. These magnificent felines are designed by nature to roam far and wide, to seek out mates, to hunt and claim territory.

An Oxford University study published in the journal, Nature, found that wide-ranging carnivores such as tigers and other big cats “show the most evidence of stress and/or psychological dysfunction in captivity.”

It’s no wonder so many make a break for it. Readers can learn more at www.Wildlifepimps.com.

Jennifer O’Connor

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Norfolk, VA