Greg Farris opined

In article ,
says...


Granted, an airport is not the same as undeveloped wilderness, but the
"benefits" of development (except to the developer) are dubious.


Anecdote:
I actually know of a case in Europe where, because of its unique eco-system,
close to a city, but still quite wild, a medium-sized municipal airport has
become a recognized " endangered habitat " for some species of birds. It's
endangered of course because lawyers living nearby want to close it down, and
developers have their eyes on the open land. The city has grown out towards
the airport, to where the once forsaken territory now has immense value. The
environmentalists who prepared the bird report are stuck between a
philosophical rock and hard place - being dyed-in-the-wool
environmentalists, they cannot actually favor the continued existence of the
airport - Heaven forbid - but they admit it is the unique blend of open
space, grassland and even the method of upkeep of the airport that provides
the habitat for the birds. They even say if the airport were to be
eliminated, certain species could be in danger of extinction. Their proposal?
Well since they cannot actually come out and oppose closing the airport,
they suggest "in the event of an airport closure" the land should be
maintained as it is, with full maintenance staff at cost to the community,
in order to preserve the wild bird habitat. Now there's a progressive
proposal for ya! Eliminate the revenue portions of the operation, which
allow it to be self-sufficient and even a substantial economic motor for the
community, but maintain the land upkeep at cost to the residents! So far, I
think it is only an enlightened few who see the common sense in this
proposal.

KCON is in a simular situation. There is a species of butterfly that lives on
the aiport, and it is endangered. Add in the National Guard, the state capital
and 1/2 of Louden's NASCAR team traffic, it is a safe to survive airport.

The rest of the GA airports in NH are not so asured of survival.



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?