A couple of years ago, our central Missouri city bought a farm south of town, setting it aside as a nature and fishing preserve. A trail was built around the lake, a few shelters were placed for picnics, restroom facilities were established and a boat launch was constructed (to be used for small fishing craft). My wife and I visited the pastoral refuge several times, noting that its rural environment was marred only by a nearby highway and a new high school that looms above the southwest section of the lake. Otherwise, broad, rolling grasslands, parcels of forest and shoreline wetlands characterized the preserve, which attracted a wide variety of resident and migrant wildlife.
On our visit today, we were dismayed to see an army of bulldozers, steam shovels and earth movers destroying the east end of that tranquil site; on closer inspection, we saw survey markers running along the south edge as well, barely 50 yards from the lakeshore. As we hiked along the trail, it became painfully clear that a large commercial and/or residential development will soon abut the once quiet and scenic preserve, likely converting the refuge to your typical suburban park, complete with hordes of joggers, dog-walkers, kite flyers and cell-phone addicts.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for urban and suburban parks, which bring greenery and some wildlife to our concrete jungles and which offer oases for family picnics and sporting activities. While they are, to some degree, nature preserves, they do not provide the serenity and natural ecosystems of a designated refuge. To find the latter, one must now head for conservation areas, State and National Wildlife Refuges, wilderness areas and undeveloped federal lands; even State parks, catering to the masses, are often uninviting for a true naturalist. I, for one, will check the old farm site off my destination list.
