Dear editor,
I am very much opposed to the installation of street lights and the construction of a huge, privately operated banquet and conference center at the Indiana Dunes State Park.
This is a place for nature and a place for the public, not greedy private developers seeking to take over again and make a profit.
The planned expansion would seriously degrade the natural setting and the beautiful view of the beach, a treasure that belongs to us all.
The installation of street lights will cause us to lose one of the best year-round stargazing spots left in Indiana. It is one of the last public places where it is still possible to see the Milky Way and gaze up at a dark sky filled with millions of stars.
The lights and planned large windows will also be a hazard to the millions of migrating birds that come here. Many species of birds migrate at night using the moon and stars or the setting sun for navigation.
Artificial lighting confuses these birds, causing them to linger in the area or crash into buildings.
It is illogical to put street lights in a place that is supposed to be a haven for wildlife through which millions of birds migrate every year.
Street lights will also be disruptive to insects like fireflies and moths, and they will interfere with the nocturnal habits of other animals as well.
Every year, hundreds of millions of birds are killed or injured when they fly into windows.
This happens when birds see plants or empty spaces beyond the windows, or they just see the reflection of the sky or trees but not the glass.
What sense does is it make then to have this monstrous structure built with these large glass windows right in the middle of this important place for migrating birds?
This was not properly thought out at all. The planned expansion has no place in our Indiana Dunes State Park.
I do not want or need extraneous development here.
I come to this beautiful place for the pristine natural setting it provides, the serenity and peacefulness of nature, and nothing more.
This plan must stop. It is nothing more than desecration of one of the most beautiful and natural places left in Indiana.
The Hoosier Sierra Club, Hoosier Environmental Council, Citizens Action Coalition, Save the Dunes and the Izaak Walton League are also all opposed to this misguided project.
Please go to www.dunesaction.org to learn more and sign the petition against development. You can go to the “Dunes Action” page on Facebook for more information.
Contact Gov. Mike Pence and tell him you oppose development. We can stop it from happening to our beautiful Indiana Dunes State Park.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Budrick
Michigan City, IN
