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■Un' r:
Wilderness Park must not crumble to slowly expandins urban sprawl
GRAHAM JOHNSON#* a
graduate student in
German, environmental
and social studies, and is
Co-Director of the
University of Nebraska
Environmental Resource
Center.
Wilderness Park is nationally rec
ognized as one of the best examples
for flood management for an urban
setting. The Salt Creek that has flood
ed Lincoln many times in the past still
flows, but since the 1970s, the
Wilderness Park section South of town
has encased it in a forest of dense trees
and grasses.
This foliage, along with wide
buffer areas of agriculture and the nat
ural meander of the Salt Creek, com- %
bine to create a highly absorptive and
effective means for flood control near
the park and downstream.
Furthermore, this extremely lush
and protective area has since been the
habitat for hundreds of species of
birds, mammals, amphibians and
insects. Nowhere in Lincoln is biodi
versity as rich as it is in Wilderness
Park.
Wilderness Park is a recreation and
educational area for those who want to
experience “wild” nature, but may not
have the opportunity to travel far. The
park hosts bicyclists, hikers, horseback
riders, naturalists of many sorts, and
the youth population of Lincoln for
field trips and summer activities.
Now, all of these attributes of
Wilderness Park are under severe
threat of the expanding girth of
Lincoln. Wilderness Park, as well as
the entire Lincoln/Lancaster flood
plain are becoming victims of unsus
tainable and manipulated expansion.
Development of the city is good,
but “developmenf’ is.not what Lincoln
is pursuing. Rather, Lincoln has
become the victim of incongruent, dis
located growth and expansion.
“Developmenf’ implies a different
meaning than simply “expansion” or
“growth.”
“Development” means evolving
into something better. To “expand” or
to “grow” implies an increase in size,
but not necessarily something’s evolu
tion into something better.
Flowers develop. Weeds and can
cer grow and expand.
Sprawl faces Lincoln just as it
faces: Minneapolis; Seattle; Portland;
Omaha; Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colo,
and the rest of die medium to large
cities in this country. The question of
how to manage development for the
long-term rests in the hands of the
local citizens, city managers and plan
ners and private and public enterprises.
Each city is unique and therefore
must remedy their unique situation in
the best way they see fit But there are
also overarching principles and prac
tices that are becoming universally
understood and fall under the umbrella
of “sustainable development.”
In Lincoln, applying sustainable
philosophies and practices means
developing the city with the long-term
future in mind, but acting in the short
term with a comprehensively responsi
ble approach.
As it now stands, the anticipated
urbanization on the east side of
Wilderness Park (including a high
school, industry, business offices,
lighted ball paries, and residential) will
continue to apply significant pressures
upon the attributes of Wilderness Park
and it’s environs.
This Will cause the parks dynamics
to change severely.
Animals around the park, that are
accustomed to grazing farmland will
be pushed in and confined, forcing
diem to graze on park foliage.
Migratory tendencies for other animals
and insects will be reduced because of
u
Development of the city is good, but
‘development’ is not what Lincoln is
pursuing. Rather, Lincoln has become the
victim of incongruent, dislocated growth
and expansion.
a decrease in habitat -
Light and noise pollution, toxic
effluents (including but not limited to
oil, gasoline, and rubber residues), and
solid wastes will flow freely into the
park and into the Salt Creek from adja
cent buildings, industry, and the pro
posed underground'gasoline holding
tanks.
Increased amounts of impervious
surfaces (parking lots, streets and
roofs) will send more rain faster into
the Salt Creek along with large
amounts of silt (fine mud).
This increased rate and amount of
water and silt will damage not only die
park, but Lincoln’s Haymarket and
Waverly are also under threat of prop
erty damage.
Increased population near die park
will apply internal pressure as more,
people visit and use the park.
All together, the situation looks
grim, especially increased develop
ment continues as planned.
The loss of biodiversity, the lo^ of
floodwater retention, the loss of “natu
ralness,” the loss of agricultural land,
the loss of serenity.
The tarnishing of a gem.
We are not alone in Lincoln when
it comes to issues of development and
sprawl.
Lincoln is abigplace and there are
plenty of other places to develop,
besides adjacent to Wilderness Park.
The preservation of Wilderness
Park could be as much of a national
example just as its creation was for
flood control in the 1970s.
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