Vernon Martin

I have been to the Rainforest Cafe. It was a Denny's with more plants, waterfalls, and a theme park giftshop. Although there were small areas where saving the rainforest were mentioned I didn't come out of there feeling any different. I believe that what Vernon said was true. Some of my family felt like they were helping the rainforest, gorillas, and parrots by purchasing a stuffed animal and eating a hamburger. It is dirsturbing that we are so far removed from nature we will invent a fake and make that our truth. We meausure what we know about wild life through Disney cartoons. It is only through experincing nature we will change. To bad some of us will never leave the city. And only taste what this world has through the Discovery channel.

Toxins And You!

First of all, I work in the grocery industry when something is found to be wrong with a food item (recall on peanut butter), it is pulled immediately chain wide. We will not allow a tainted food item to enter the home environment. When it is discovered e-mails, and notices are sent out and the media is notified. It is very different for our natural environment if fish are dying due to toxins in the stream very little is done and almost nobody is notified. Toxins in the natural environment are ignored. Even when they effect children playing in these environments these pose a greater threat to people in these environments and the media barely reports it.

I care very deeply and feel that all life should be protected. The mining waste (arsenic, mercury, lead, ect.) must be cleaned up. How many animals must die?, how many people must die?, or how many environments must be deemed toxic before we act?

Now it costs money to do this and we need help. We must try to at least identify the worst areas and then attempt to remove or get a time frame of how long it will take. We can stop adding toxins to the enviorment by each individual doing their part. We must contain all chemical spills and control these natural settings better. It seems that anywhere people go we leave a mess. Maybe we should contain ourselves so that other enviorments can survive.

Dr. Mike Thornton

The toxic legacy of gold mining is shocking. The fact that our nation benefited from these horrible practices makes me feel even more sad. The Sierra Nevada's were basically poisoned by these miners. They used Mercury, arsenic, lead, and acids not to mention spraying down entire mountains and changing the natural environment all together. Still today mercury levels in fish can be hazards to anyone who eats it. The ball parks have poisonous fibers that can cause lung cancer. Children in El Dorado county fear sickness in one of the most beautiful environments. This is so wrong. I hope the nation will do something to clean it up. I agree with Dr. Thornton when he said "they took the gold, but left the mess". We must together clean up this mess.

Gary Noy

I love the Sierra Nevada's. I have lived here my whole life with their backdrop beautifying our cities. I vacationed there several summers and always respect it. Finding out from Gary the gold miners and loggers disrespect for this environment was horrible. I took it personal. It's tragic that some much of that ecology was threatened along with the water supplies and animal life. If we had to live in fear of miners or loggers destroying our households maybe we do more to protect what we know so well. The Sierra Nevada's history must be told and we must prevent tourism and our encroachment on this beautiful environment.

Saving The Species!

So we all need to help save the earths animals. We were asked to answer a few questions. So here are my thoughts... Conserving species can be difficult, expensive, and may force us to sacrifice. This is all so that not just one species may survive, but many will survive. All species are linked in some way either by the food chain or by environmental factors. We try to save the species that mean the most to us. Pandas, whales, elephants, etc., (these animals we are in love with). What is important is whether we are encroaching on their environment, destroying it, or eliminating a food source they need. All species seem to be linked in a particular environment. Remove one and the environment will fail and species will all be threatened. If the species is lost due to a natural evolutionary process no other species will be extremely affected. We are growing as a species and need space for life, food, and profit. Maybe we should think about reducing our species because where ever we are introduced other species die. This is a balancing act we cannot follow. If we do not help conserve the salmon we could effect the growth of trees, the survival of bears and other animals and insect life could be effected.