To the editor:

The Utah Native Plant Society, along with 20 other institutional co-sponsors, sponsored a field trip to Dimple Dell Regional Park Natural Area on April 28, designated Native Plant Day.I was invited along with 50 other naturalists from all of the state's higher education institutions to serve as a guide for hundreds of schoolchildren, Scout troops and families who came to experience firsthand the glories of spring in the Wasatch foothill environment.

The park has a fine network of trails for both foot and horse travel. Trailheads with restrooms and parking facilities made access easy. There is a variety of habitats including desert, stream, meadow, etc. A dozen camp tables bade the hiker to linger and enjoy.

I answered hundreds of questions and even gathered enough of the rare morel mushrooms to share with some of the hikers. We encountered squirrels in the trees, ducks along the stream and redtail hawks overhead.

My thoughts were of gratitude for a county government that cared so much about its citizens, especially the youngsters, and the beauty of its natural environment to resist the pressures of economic development and set aside such a treasure for the enjoyment, inspiration and instruction of posterity.

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I was horrified to learn that the County Commission has approved plans for appropriating a sizable portion of the area for yet another golf course. I don't know how many golf courses there are in the valley. They have a common character: sameness.

What's done is not easily undone. Once lost, this treasure will be lost to our citizens forever and our pride of place will again be sacrificed for a mess of pottage.

Ardean W. Watts

Salt Lake City

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