Dear Jane... Don't know if I am an official voter in your ExCom but you certainly have chosen the correct position out of the choices available. Thanks. Joyce Naffier On Sat, 29 Jul 2000 22:08:35 -0500 jrclark <[log in to unmask]> writes: > Please take the time to read this message before Monday and get back > to me > with your comments. While this might appear to be a local issue, it > deals > with federal land and is no more local than Eddyville Dunes or the > Loess > Hills. Therefore, I think it would be appropriate for the Chapter > ExCom to > make a decision on whether or not to oppose this project. > > I first became aware of this project about a year ago and visited > the site > early last fall with some of the neighbors. Becky Soglin and I had > placed > our names on the Corps list to be notified about the progress of this > project. Unfortunately, the consultant, Zambrana, has not been > thorough in > getting materials out to us in a timely manner. > > According to the forest resource inventory of 1994, the area being > considered for this project had roosting bald eagles and osprey, and > rare > songbirds have been found there during nesting season. A rare > trillium was > found on the site by a neighbor. The biological survey for this > lease > application was done in August, however, and nesting birds and spring > ephemerals would not be found > > Monday, July 31 is the last day to comment during the "scoping" > period. My > recommendation is to endorse the Alternate Use: Redesignation of > area to > *low density recreation or forest reserve*. > > Thanks, > Jane Clark > [log in to unmask] > - - - - - - - - > > VOTE NEEDED -- > -- DOES THE CHAPTER EXCOM WISH TO OPPOSE THIS PROJECT? > > INTRODUCTION > The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District (Corps), has > contracted Zambrana Engineering, Inc. (ZEI) to conduct an assessment > of a > nonprofit real estate lease application for the use of Corps property > located adjacent to Coralville Reservoir, northeast of North > Liberty, IA. > The project area is located within a 106-acre site along Coralville > Reservoir approximately 4 miles from North Liberty. Access to the > site is > via Scales Bend Road. > > The proposed site was formerly leased to the Girl Scouts for camping > purposes until 1990. Over the intervening years the facilities have > deteriorated and understory has overgrown the former campsite (Camp > Daybreak). THE PREVIOUS CAMP INVOLVED ABOUT 32+ CAMPERS FOR A 2 WEEK > PERIOD FOR DAYCAMP. THERE WAS NO KITCHEN AND NO HOT WATER -- IT WAS > A > PRIMITIVE CAMP WITH ONE OVERNIGHT DURING THE 2 WEEKS. > > THE CHOICES ARE: > 1. The MYCA Lease Application > Alternatives: > 2. Reduced Use—Reduced intensity of use and development (i.e. fewer > campers, > fewer facilities, shorter camping season, etc.) > 3. Alternate Use—Re-designation of area to low density recreation or > forest > reserve > 4. No Action > > ***ITEM ON WHICH TO VOTE: The Iowa City Area Group is considering a > position of endorsing the Alternate Use: Redesignation of area to > *low > density recreation or forest reserve*. Their main reasoning would > be that > the proposed project would unduly impact the site environmentally; > that the > site and surrounding area are not suited to support low-impact > recreational > use beyond day use; and that only the Alternative Use option > provides > permanent protection. In addition, Alternate Use would still allow > groups > to go on hikes and be in involved in environmental education on the > site. > > They also would recommend that the site have improved parking > (although > certainly nowhere near as big as the lot proposed for 150 cars) and > better > signage to create fair public access to the site. > > PROJECT DESCRIPTION > The lease applicant, Muslim Youth Camps of America (MYCA), proposes > to use > the former Girl Scout campsite as a summer camp for recreational and > educational activities for multi-cultural campers, and as a > retreat/conference site during the non-camping season. > The facilities would be available for use by other nonprofit groups > when > not in use by MYCA. The proposed facilities at the > site include ten cabins, 12 tent platforms, a lodge, a caretaker's > residence, restrooms, canoe storage, access road and parking lots. > Additional facilities not shown in Figure 2, include a beach on the > south > side of the site adjacent to the lodge and a floating boat > dock on the north side of the site near the embayment area. > > The proposed facilities are designed to blend in with the wooded > surroundings and would be located in a way to minimize the loss of > large > trees. The vegetation to be cleared from the site is mostly > understory, > saplings and small trees. As presented in MYCA's proposal, the > facilities > will be located on the south face of the ridge that runs in an > east-west > direction through the site. Trees and understory located to the > north of > this ridge and in the ravine to the north would remain undisturbed, > except > for paths to gain access to the embayment area. > > Usage of the site once construction is complete and the camp is fully > operational, is anticipated to be approximately 120 campers per week > during > a 10-week summer camp period, and about 3,000 to 4,000 > retreat/conference > attendees spread over the remaining 42 weeks of the year. Activities > during the camping season will include swimming, boating, hiking, > indoor > and outdoor educational activities, onsite work activities, indoor > and > outdoor cultural activities, and offsite field trips to local points > of > interest. Similar activities are also planned during the non-camping > season at a lower usage level, along with conferences and meditative > retreats. > > > Alternatives being evaluated in this study include: > > The MYCA Lease Application > Reduced Use—Reduced intensity of use and development (i.e. fewer > campers, > fewer facilities, shorter camping season, etc.) > Alternate Use—Re-designation of area to low density recreation or > forest > reserve > No Action > > Additional information for the proposed nonprofit real estate lease > at the > former Camp Daybreak site at Coralville Lake can be found at the > Corps > website: > > http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Daybreak/index.htm > > > (Comments from Jane from last summer, when this issue first started) > Hi Rex and Becky -- I stopped and walked the area with the neighbors > this > afternoon. My initial thoughts are -- this land belongs to us, not > the > Corps of Engineers. The Corps proposes to lease this for $1 or so, > or at > least not very much money. And then what is now public land is no > longer > public. It is a beautiful woodland and it would be devastated by the > proposed development of a large meeting hall and 30 cabins, plus > septic and > parking for 160+ cars and lighting. (It is 22 cabins and platforms > plus > bathrooms, lodge, etc.) > > It would be the only development on the lake edge. We would object > if a > developer wanted to build houses on this Corps > property. With the ever increasing loss of natural areas, why would > we not > object to this? > > We don't have many pristine areas in Iowa, and I would say this is a > pretty > decent place, especially since it appears to be part of a contiguous > border > around the lake. This development would seriously fragment that > border. I > did not get into the woodland and walk, but the lakeside woods > reminded me > of Michigan forests. The few natural areas we have left in this > state are > still recovering from decades and decades of abuse, and this tract > is well > on its way toward recovery. If we don't save these areas, we're set > back > another 60-90 years to catch up. When this land was purchased by the > Corps, I would imagine at least some of it was set aside for > habitat, and > to compensate for the loss of woodland covered by the lake. The > environmental assessment is being done late in the summer, which > means that > all spring flowers and breeding birds won't be surveyed. > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT > to [log in to unmask] ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! 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