As a life-long southsider I was never very familiar with that wooded patch of land north of Superior between 33rd and 48th Streets with the "No Trespassing" signs. I knew Lincoln Trap & Skeet operated back there, but that's all.
As it turns out, apparently those trees belong to Boosalis Park and the area is one big mess. How it got that way is an odd story involving a hog farmer, a woman known as Bloody Mary, and the passage of many years. Fortunately the Lincoln Trap & Skeet folks may save the City oodles of clean-up costs if the City Council decides to grant the club a lease to use the land. In exchange, club members would clean up the property. That sounds like a fair deal.
The downside, I suppose, is that the now-wooded area would likely be far less wooded by the time the club is done cleaning up. It's hard to shoot through trees, after all. Some folks will no doubt complain about the loss of "natural" space within the city. Although they have a bit of a point, Boosalis Park is no Wilderness Park. If it's going to be human usable it needs a cleanup eventually. I don't see Parks & Rec finding cleanup money in its budget any time soon.
I wonder if there are any Lincoln Trap & Skeet members among the readers of Lincolnite. If so, my lone piece of advice is to wear thick gloves and heavy boots during the cleanup. Who knows what lurks in them thar woods.
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Thanks for the link to our story and photos on Boosalis Park. About those trees: The Trap and Skeet Club will remove dead, dying and dangerous trees, but as part of the lease agreement, they’re required to keep all healthy trees that are more than 5 inches in diameter. And the president said they’ll be planting a lot of trees—evergreens—when they design their course. They’ll be shooting into the woods from the north and west edges, but not shooting from inside the woods.
I’d intended to include more details about the future of the park, but the past was so fascinating it took up most of the story.
If you wanted to include more details, why didn’t you? The dead tree edition of the paper has obvious limitations, but journalstar.com has unlimited space. If the story demanded more words, why not give it more words in a medium where that’s possible?
To be clear, I’m not criticizing you. There may be perfectly reasonable reasons why you are not able to write a “Director’s Cut” of the article. But if comes down to LJS policies standing in the way of this kind of full reporting, then I, the customer, want to do my part to pressure your employer to change those policies.
See, I just assumed that they wouldn’t be clearing the entire area, instead just cleaning up and using it as natural as possible. I’m a cup 1/2 full kinda girl today! 😉
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