From the Monterey County Herald
Serving Monterey County and the Salinas Valley

March 5, 2005

L E T T E R S

Editor:

There is an inherent contradiction in Measure A. It was sold to the public as an instrument that would ensure the protection of the Del Monte Forest in perpetuity. As such, it garnered 60 percent of the vote. In actuality, it represents a zoning amendment that will permit the abrogation of existing protection policies contained in the currently operable Local Coastal Plan.

This is nothing more than a cynical ploy to deceive the public and to facilitate the virtual destruction of the remaining forest environment. This is a shameful abuse of the public trust and should not be facilitated by the commission. I urge those who want to save our forest to attend the meeting or to write to the commission at 725 Front St., Suite 300, Santa Cruz 95060.

Janice M. O'Brien
Pebble Beach

Editor:

Defend the forest

In the world of make-believe, Clint Eastwood lives as the lonely hero, the man with no name quietly holding the moral high ground and bending the law to avenge the wrongs perpetrated against the defenseless by ruthless bandits and corrupt officials. His steel-blue eyes and the barrel of his gun are all that stand between good and evil.

In the world the rest of us live in, Clint and his Pebble Beach cronies are wielding their immense power and wealth to destroy the last stands of irreplaceable Monterey pine forest, endangered species and some of the world's most beautiful coastal habitat for the sole benefit of the obscenely rich and famous. By the power of celebrity and political influence, he has managed to defy the law, and all good common sense, to get approval from a pocketful of local officials for yet another exclusive golf course.

It's a sad and troubling oxymoron that our beloved celluloid hero, righteous protector of the meek, has cashed in his silver bullets for chainsaws, bulldozers and toxic pesticides. To whom can the last frogs, the last sea otters, the last of the native trees turn? To whom can the rest of us turn?

Mr. Eastwood, if in real life you truly wish to champion the underdog, the defenseless, then please buy the 49ers and make it your million-dollar baby. Let the forest live.

Peter Mull
San Francisco

Editor:

Did you know that the Del Monte Forest is the largest remaining, intact coastal forest of Monterey pines left in the world? Not only is it an environmentally sensitive habitat area, it is also worthy of protection in that it provides shelter for other threatened animals and plants, like the red-legged frog.

If developers are allowed to destroy this area and rewrite conservation easements they have signed, a terrible precedent will occur.

Ann Privateer
Davis