New Times / Letter To The Editor

Be kind to Mother Nature

Peter Charles Hunter

When the paved asphalt ends, so does the road. Why do trucks continue into areas where children make sandcastles and people happily run their dogs and enjoy a peaceful hike?

The Nipomo Dunes are such a unique display of Mother Nature’s genius that the roar of trucks, ATVs, and the RV city really does rob her of this beauty. Shouldn’t it be policed to protect her from such a horrible crime? The multiple accidents and harm that comes to people who ‘recreate’ in the Nipomo Dunes, which is an area very difficult for emergency personnel and police to access, gives drunken off road bandits a license to endanger others and break the law. The drug dealers have a great venue to conduct their business in an area easy to operate in, devoid of the prying eye and control of the law. The harm that comes to people is a direct reflection of the harm that the emissions from recreational vehicles cause to the environment.

The point and ambition in traveling the world is to witness, absorb, and enjoy the beauty that the planet has to offer. The Nipomo Dunes are a great example of that beauty and should be acknowledged to be protected for future generations to witness, embrace and enjoy. ATVs should have a designated area to ‘recreate’ outside of the dunes, such as the example displayed by the Santa Maria racetrack.

Trucks are built and designed to haul things and meant to be a tool for the working person, not a toy to be unleashed upon Mother Nature’s sandbox.