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Activists show clout on preserve

By Times editorial
Published September 17, 2006

Pinellas' environmental activists can chalk up another victory. Pinellas County has decided not to build an equestrian center in the Brooker Creek Preserve.

The organization called Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve, along with many interested residents, have raised their voices in a chorus of concern about the future of the 8,000-acre-plus environmental preserve in northeast Pinellas. In recent months, they have looked skeptically upon some projects the county was considering on preserve lands, including a water blending plant, reactivated wellheads and the equestrian facility.

The protesters did not necessarily object to horseback riding in the preserve. In fact, people who own horses can bring the animals to the preserve now and ride in designated areas. That passive, small-scale use was viewed as relatively harmless to the preserve, but the proposed equestrian facility was in a different category. It would have included a horse stable, riding ring and possible feed barn, and would have provided riding for people who don't own horses. A therapeutic riding program for disabled people would have been offered, too.

The protesters rightly asked, can't that facility go somewhere else?

Last week the county answered: Yes, it can. Will Davis, director of environmental management for the county, announced that the equestrian center "is no longer a Brooker Creek facility." Instead, the county hopes to put it in or near Walsingham Park in Largo, a logical choice, since that is an area of the county where horseback riding and private stables already exist.

This is a process the county should have undertaken in the beginning. If the preserve is to survive for future generations, the county must resist the urge to consider the thousands of undeveloped acres there a convenient spot for new projects. Public or private lands elsewhere, in areas not designated as preserves or environmentally sensitive, should be considered first.

Had the county done so in all cases, perhaps soccer fields and a water treatment plant would not now be chewing up chunks of preserve land.

The decision to move the equestrian facility to another location is proof that environmental activism by Pinellas residents can influence county officials to do what is right.

[Last modified September 16, 2006, 20:37:40]