 |
| Lupine and Poppies on Slope |
This letter to the editor, which was not
published by The Fresno Bee, challenges Nick C. Kazarian’s assertion in a
January 28, 2017 letter to the editor that a dam at Temperance Flat
will create a new recreation area:
Temperance Flat Dam will create a new
recreation area for all to enjoy? Wrong! Temperance Flat Dam will destroy the
most stunning public park near Fresno, known as the San Joaquin River Gorge
Special Recreation Management Area (formerly known as Squaw Leap).
This park is our
land! Nick C. Kazarian tells an outright lie (letter, January 28), apparently
so that we, the public, will happily pay for the destruction of our own land, primarily
for the benefit of one industry.
Paid for mainly by
the public, a new dam will obliterate a park that belongs to everyone—without
the state or federal governments bothering to replace it. A new dam? After
water diversions for the farmers have already killed our rivers? A new dam—as
farmers are exhausting our groundwater for water-guzzling crops that should
never have been planted in a desert?
Grow sustainable
crops. Build recharge basins in the Valley, but don't destroy land that belongs
to our children and grandchildren—for the benefit of an industry that once
again is showing no respect for the public.
The Bee, which
has gone on record supporting a dam at Temperance Flat, is allowing an outright
lie to remain unchallenged while censoring the truth and opinions contrary to
its own. Abdicating its public trust responsibility, The Bee is supporting the
commercial interests of the Valley’s main industry over the interests of the
public. No wonder many members of the public, here in the Valley and in the rest of the country, remain furious with the news
media.
The Bee’s
criticisms of Donald Trump for his lies, of Devin Nunes for not challenging
Trump’s lies, or of anyone else’s lies now stand as the height of hypocrisy.
