To the editor:

Take a page from Native Americans

March 26, 2007

As we come together to vote on this PDR referendum, it is important to understand both points of view to make an informed decision. I acknowledge the positives to be gained by voting no, but I choose to present the side of voting yes. I ask the people reading this to please keep an open mind and listen to my words.

More often than not, we find that we are getting further and further away from nature as we draw closer and closer to "development."

We see the land as a wild beast to be tamed, rather than an equal to be respected. Long ago, people like the Native Americans understood how to live with respect to the land. They lived by the principles of sustainability, taking only what they needed and recycling everything back into the ecosystem. Problems like global warming, overflowing landfills and fossil fuel depletion were non-existent to these early people who lived alongside nature without disrupting it.

There are four principles of sustainability: solar energy as the primary source of energy, chemicals recycled over and over in the ecosystem, biodiversity helping ecosystems adapt to changing environmental conditions, and the ever-present limits to population growth. Few societies in the world today still manage to live by these principles of sustainability.

I believe that we should preserve the natural beauty of Washington County by voting yes on April 3. Perhaps that way, this community can take a step back towards nature, back towards the ways of the Native Americans, and back towards living in a sustainable way.

If we start now, our children will still be able to see the farms and wide-open spaces that we now take for granted. After all, "we do not own the Earth; we are only borrowing it from our children." (Anonymous)

Sarah Gintner, West Bend