Bird Watchers Dispute Vallejo Walmart Plan
Bird Watchers Dispute Vallejo Walmart Plan
Land Would Take Over Sanctuary
By Leslie Brinkley
Feb. 2 - KGO - Seven thousand birdwatchers are expected to descend on Vallejo this weekend for the San Francisco Bay "Flyway Festival." And while they celebrate the wetlands and wildlife there, they're also worried about the construction of a giant new Walmart on the shores of an environmentally sensitive slough.
Bird watchers will flock together this weekend along White Slough in Vallejo, it's an area the Audubon Society has dubbed a globally important bird area. One million shorebirds stop here mid-winter along their pacific migration route.
Right next to White Slough and the bird sanctuary, Walmart has filed an application with the city of Vallejo to build a 390,000 square foot superstore.
Myrna Hayes, S.F. Bay Flyway Festival Co-Founder: "People can have a Walmart Supercenter anywhere in the town, but you just can't have a wetland anywhere, a beautiful, globally important bird area, that will bring a different economy to your community."
Myrna Hayes thinks Vallejo should shed its industrial image for a greener one by tapping into the $40 billion dollar bird viewing business.
Vicki Gray, Vallejoans for Responsible Growth: "We're concerned about having an environmentally improved area here on the White Slough and a vibrant commercial downtown."
ABC7's Leslie Brinkley: "Walmart would diminish those chances?"
Vicki Gray: "Absolutely."
But some bird watchers believe the project wouldn't necessarily ruin the slough if done right.
Joe Naudzunas, Birdwatcher: "A lot of places we go to watch birds in the San Francisco Bay, there are toxic waste sites all over the place, but there are still birds."
Clay Taylor, Birdwatcher: "If the place becomes stabilized, and there is not a lot of disturbance, they're gonna like it anyway whether Walmart's here or not."
The City of Vallejo says it's far from a done deal.
Craig Whitton, Vallejo Asst. City Manager: "What the council has only agreed to do is study the project. We will be assessing the biological impacts, economic impacts."
Vicki Gray: "It's about ruining, speaking of birds, our golden goose in Vallejo."
A final decision on whether to build a Walmart by the slough should be made by the time the birds return here next winter.
Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT.
Copyright ©2007 ABC Inc., KGO-TV San Francisco.
Land Would Take Over Sanctuary
By Leslie Brinkley
Feb. 2 - KGO - Seven thousand birdwatchers are expected to descend on Vallejo this weekend for the San Francisco Bay "Flyway Festival." And while they celebrate the wetlands and wildlife there, they're also worried about the construction of a giant new Walmart on the shores of an environmentally sensitive slough.
Bird watchers will flock together this weekend along White Slough in Vallejo, it's an area the Audubon Society has dubbed a globally important bird area. One million shorebirds stop here mid-winter along their pacific migration route.
Right next to White Slough and the bird sanctuary, Walmart has filed an application with the city of Vallejo to build a 390,000 square foot superstore.
Myrna Hayes, S.F. Bay Flyway Festival Co-Founder: "People can have a Walmart Supercenter anywhere in the town, but you just can't have a wetland anywhere, a beautiful, globally important bird area, that will bring a different economy to your community."
Myrna Hayes thinks Vallejo should shed its industrial image for a greener one by tapping into the $40 billion dollar bird viewing business.
Vicki Gray, Vallejoans for Responsible Growth: "We're concerned about having an environmentally improved area here on the White Slough and a vibrant commercial downtown."
ABC7's Leslie Brinkley: "Walmart would diminish those chances?"
Vicki Gray: "Absolutely."
But some bird watchers believe the project wouldn't necessarily ruin the slough if done right.
Joe Naudzunas, Birdwatcher: "A lot of places we go to watch birds in the San Francisco Bay, there are toxic waste sites all over the place, but there are still birds."
Clay Taylor, Birdwatcher: "If the place becomes stabilized, and there is not a lot of disturbance, they're gonna like it anyway whether Walmart's here or not."
The City of Vallejo says it's far from a done deal.
Craig Whitton, Vallejo Asst. City Manager: "What the council has only agreed to do is study the project. We will be assessing the biological impacts, economic impacts."
Vicki Gray: "It's about ruining, speaking of birds, our golden goose in Vallejo."
A final decision on whether to build a Walmart by the slough should be made by the time the birds return here next winter.
Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT.
Copyright ©2007 ABC Inc., KGO-TV San Francisco.
posted by Walking Contradiction at 3:47 PM
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