No

by Shannon Lisa

Created on: April 16, 2008

I was thinking of voting 'Yes', considering I do believe that people should be able to buy a house where and when they want. Then I thought about it, and I realized that there were some key points that people who want to buy houses on the edge of government properties forget all the time. That place that is near your home, it isn't your backyard, yet a lot of people seem to treat those areas like that. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that most of the time people are SO disrespectful to those natural areas that they SHOULDN'T be allowed to buy or build houses there. It should be against the law just like the killing of the wildlife in those protected areas is.

People who buy houses in areas with high nature content should be aware that nature includes animals, not just dry brush. The threat of wildfires is HUGE, but then again, so is the threat of wild animals running to your house for escape from those fires...or just running around your house because it is in their territory.

In the city neighboring mine, there is a beautiful nature reserve. It is one of the last 'natural' places left in this area. Obviously that reserve needs to be careful during the hot seasons because it could easily go up in flame. Not only would that endanger anyone living near the area, it would kill all the wild animals making that reserve their home and would also ruin the reserve itself for all the people that enjoy seeing it. It is one of the only places left in this area that coyotes can live in peace. The problem that is becoming apparent with the reserve though is the fact that people are starting to build their homes on the edge of it. These people also decided to foolishly bring their animals with them to those homes, or buy animals after moving in. They let their animals out in the backyard, or their animals run away, and are never seen again. These people then get angry that their animals were more than likely eaten by larger animals. They claim they need to protect future small animals, and their children, so they put out poison to kill the coyotes and mountain lions that make that nature reserve their home. Now the wildlife in the reserve is starting to die out, because of humans (go figure). Wild animals that are protected by law, but because poison is available in stores, the law cannot punish these people because it lacks adequate proof. It isn't right to allow these people to live on these lands, and break the law, it is not a basic human right to have a home wherever you want. Since when was that a right? You also do not have the right to break the law just because your cat or dog was eaten by a coyote. More than likely by putting out poison to kill the coyotes, you are killing many more than just the ONE that ate your pet.

Seeing how stupid these people are when it comes to small animals, and poisoning the ones whose home was invaded by the people poisoning them, who is to say these people know anything about how nature works at all! They have proven that they are stupid, if they cannot take the simple precautions necessary to protect their animals without killing the wildlife that is protected by law in that area, what makes anyone think they know the dangers of fire. I hate to say it, but just because some people understand the threat of fire does not mean that all people do. I have actually HEARD people say, after moving their home next to a canyon filled with dry brush, that the government should come in and destroy the plant life in the canyon. I have heard people talk of 'filling in' the canyon...fill it with what!? I have heard people talk about how the government should just clear those natural areas, and develop them so they are filled with houses instead of dangerous animals and plants that can catch on fire.

Just because some people understand danger and risk does not mean all do. There are people in this world that forget that we are a part of nature, that we live in nature. Just because you live in a city filled with buildings made of metal and concrete does not mean you have totally removed yourself from nature. Those buildings may be surrounded by houses that are surrounded by other junk...but ALL OF IT is surrounded by the EARTH, which is NATURE. Fire is part of nature, it happens, but people blame the government whenever huge fires 'get out of hand'. The fires often enough wouldn't get out of control if it weren't for the houses in the area. Many times a fire in a canyon may have been contained within that canyon if it weren't for the houses surrounding the canyon. Even if the fire spreads, people wouldn't be in danger if they didn't live around it. People have fences made of wood, gardens, houses also made of wood, and sometimes wooden lawn furniture, or plastic or metal furniture with fabric lining. These things are all fuel and feed fire, they don't help to contain or put it out. People then claim the government owes them, money, a new home, whatever, the government and the tax payers whose houses WEREN'T near a place that was going to more thank likely go up during fire season have to pay for it. The people who are made homeless expect people to feel sorry for them. It isn't that people don't feel for them, they understand, those people are without a home, without their precious memories and personal belongings. Everyone realizes how precious those things are, and most everyone realizes how they would feel if they were to lose those things personally as well. But the thing that not everyone understands is that it is NOT the governments or anyone else's responsibility to protect YOUR home from fire if you CHOOSE to purchase a home in a high risk area.

The real reason people should NOT be allowed to build their homes near those places is because people ruin those areas when they do. They kill the wild animals in order to protect their own house pets, they kill the wild bugs and insects in order to protect their home and garden, they kill the natural plant life not to protect anything, but because they don't realize they are. Perhaps they don't realize that pesticides from their garden, or weed killers from their lawn, may wash into the areas of nature that are supposed to be protected. Those things can harm plants and animals. There are often enough laws that do protect the wildlife from being harmed by people, so more often than not allowing houses to be built in that area is also allowing people to break the law and get away with it. All the while claiming to be law abiding citizens.

The whole point of those lands is to NOT have people living in them. They are there for the wildlife, not the tame life. Humans are tame creatures that are for the most part not associated with being wild at all. Hence the fact that most of them are so stupid they don't know better than to not put out poison to kill the coyote they fed their cat to. They should have known better than to move there with a cat, buy a cat after moving there, or let the cat outside the house.

I recently read a book that dealt with this very issue, it was called The Tortilla Curtain. One of the main characters had a dog that was snatched and eaten by a coyote because they lived on the edge of a government protected canyon. There was also a fire in that canyon and the family had to flee. Their house was alright, but they never stopped to think that maybe they shouldn't live there. That family, all the families in that book, were treating the area like a normal suburban street with normal suburban houses. That is the problem with living on the edge of those lands, is that it ISN'T suburbia. People want to treat it like it is because when you are standing on the street of your neighborhood, it looks suburban, but go look over the fence in your backyard and it looks wild. That is what people like about it, the whole getting back to nature thing. If you are really so interested in getting back to nature, then act like it.

Be prepared for the idea that your house may go up in flames and you will have no one to blame but yourself.

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