Our students in the 7th and 8th Grade have been engaged in an effort to expand the Montrose Point Dunes Natural Area to provide a safe haven for the endangered Piping Plovers that have nested there for the past two years. We have studied the plovers, watched a documentary, worked at the dune, and remembered our ecology lessons about natural areas being like “islands”. And our students have taken action. Under the guidance of their teachers they have written and sent scores and scores of letters to the Chicago Park District Board, who are deliberating on this proposal.
Tomorrow morning at 11:30 the CPD Board meets on Zoom to take public comment. I will try my best to represent our school, community, and students: their urgency and passion, in my testimony. You can join the meeting at:
Here are my comments:
Hello. My name is Pete Leki and I am the Director of Ecology programs at Waters Elementary School in Chicago. I want first to commend the CPD and the Natural Areas management groups for the fabulous work you have been doing over the past decade. I will try to convey to you the sentiments of the 7th and 8th grade classes that have been engaged in advocating for the expansion of the Montrose Point Dune natural Area to accommodate nesting for Piping Plovers.We have been visiting, working and studying at Montrose Point for more than 20 years. We are greatly invested in securing its health and survival. Our students, in their many messages to the CPD Board express great anxiety that the small enclaves of natural areas that support species like the Piping Plovers (and many other threatened species) may not be there in the future. Their future. Their future planet may be bereft of the treasures of evolution and biodiversity because we have failed to protect habitat, and halt climate catastrophe. A basic concept of ecology that I teach is that natural areas in our highly developed region act like islands. And we know that islands that are bigger and closer to each other are more likely to sustain biodiversity than islands that are small and farther apart. So we support every effort to expand the “islands”, the natural areas, to improve the odds that diverse life will find refuge there. Montrose Point is a great example of a natural area that is open to the public, and manages to thrive alongside multiple uses. It is a great bonus for beach goers, cafe diners, and volleyball players to encounter rare wonders of nature on every visit. We ask that you work with the Montrose Point stewards and birding community to guarantee a safe and secure welcome place for the Plovers, and add another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of natural areas that will be needed to sustain biodiversity in our land, into the future. We will be ready to help.
Below is a link to a video of our students working at Montrose Point
Be well, stay well, Mr. Leki
Read more at this link about how Waters Students and local environmentalists are working together to convince the Park District to protect the Piping Plover.