There is something that has been gravely omitted from the recent discussions of and the several recent articles about using and preserving Hartley. We were totally shocked to see two “for sale” signs on the upper part of the Hartley property, posted along Northfield Street next to the trail our family generally takes when walking to Hartley Pond. There are roughly 30 acres currently for sale there by (you would never guess!) the Duluth school district. (This is part of the nature you experience on your left as you drive up the street.)
Does the school district really want a developer to destroy 29.61 acres of trees, trails, plants, streams and wildlife, only to build a grid work of new streets and upscale homes within a stone’s throw of the nature center? What will be said to our children and grandchildren aboard school buses turning in to Hartley Nature Center when, immediately on the right side of the entrance, they see bulldozers, backhoes, and cement trucks running to and fro, destroying the nature surrounding them? Remember the headline on the May 4 Opinion-page piece: “City ‘strongly committed to protecting … Hartley.’ ”
Spending money to pave existing trails in Hartley but letting this vital piece of nature be sold would be comparable to a homeowner spending money to repave his driveway but not paying his real estate taxes.
Please don’t let the School Board or anyone else make this irreversible mistake of selling this priceless piece of nature from under our children’s feet.
Bob Johnsen
Duluth
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