We recently received this message from one of our easement landowners–
Hi! I have some property in CE with you, and I thought that you might like to hear the following story.
I own the modest easement along Heinz Parkway – the Larkin property – with the house at 1250 Sunrise Lane. During the ‘90s, when Park Entrance was entering the Town and having our roads paved, the Town had approached me to ask if the undeveloped property located below my house could be used as a part of the water drainage system for upper Heinz, to better insure flood control along a rather sharp curve of the road.
Other than some excessive debris accumulation on my lower driveway, the system has worked well during the ensuing years. Obviously, recent events put it to an extreme test, and the design functioned admirably.
But here’s what absolutely amazes me: During this recent storm, there must have been a huge amount of water coming off Heinz Parkway, and running down the CE lot. Yet, at least to my eye, there is simply no erosion along the fall line. It appears that the native grasses and tree roots held the soil together.
This is in such stark contrast to the erosion along areas that have been bulldozed for roads or houses – I honestly had no idea that this relatively small bit of land, kept as Mother Nature had originally designed it, could possibly have such resiliency under such extreme circumstances.
I am not at all sure whether the property was also of help during the 6-12 fire, but the simple fact is that the south-eastern advance of the fire was finally halted, by the Type-1 Chinook, on this same easement property. I lost a couple of trees, and that was all. Had there been a house there to catch fire…well, who knows?
You may want to have a look at this land, as I believe that it argues, eloquently, for the importance of even small amounts of land remaining completely undisturbed.
If you want to use this as an example of the wisdom and importance of the work that you do, please feel free to take any photos, etc. Again, the lot being described is the one surrounding my house at 1250 Sunrise Lane, with the drainage area beginning at my driveway and running down to lower Heinz Parkway from there.
Regards,
Jan Larkin