SCHOOL BOARD CHOOSES PARKING OVER POND AT HIGHLAND STUDENTS PROTEST LOSS OF WILDLIFE HABITAT FROM CAMPUS.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer PALMDALE - Highland High School Highland High School or Highlands High School may refer to: In the United States:
n. 1. A receptacle at the entrance to a sewer designed to keep out large or obstructive matter. 2. A reservoir for collecting surface drainage or runoff. , whose reed-filled freshwater pond has become home to ducks, turtles, bluegill bluegill: see sunfish. bluegill Popular game fish (Lepomis macrochirus) and one of the best-known sunfishes throughout its original range, the freshwater habitats of the central and southern U.S. It has been introduced throughout the western U.S. and other wildlife. The plan to pave over the one-acre basin and put up a $1 million parking lot has raised the hackles hackles the hairs over the neck and back that are elevated by arrector pili muscles in response to fright or anger. A mechanism to threaten opponents, perhaps by appearing larger. of students and staff, who think the basin, once dubbed Lake Highland, and its wildlife occupants should remain undisturbed. ``We have 34 identified species of waterfowl waterfowl, common term for members of the order Anseriformes, wild, aquatic, typically freshwater birds including ducks, geese, and screamers. In Great Britain the term is also used to designate species kept for ornamental purposes on private lakes or ponds, while in and 13 kinds of fish there. There are turtles and ducks that live there. Many of them were brought in,'' said junior Brian Long, part of a student group calling themselves Friends of the Pond. ``Yes, they were introduced into this environment. They still live there. Moving animals, which have lived in one environment for a long time, to somewhere else, to say that would have zero impact certainly isn't true.'' The Antelope Valley Union High School District The Antelope Valley Union High School District (A.V.U.H.S.D.) is located in the Antelope Valley area of California, in northern Los Angeles County. The district includes eight public high schools, one trade school, and two continuation high schools in the cities of Palmdale board approved at Wednesday's meeting a report that found the 140-space parking lot will not pose significant harm to the environment. Trustee Donita Winn said a new home will be found for the animals and that the school needs more space for parking. ``The parking is so bad. It overflows into the neighborhood and we get complaints from kids parking cars around people's homes,'' Winn said. A neighbor also was concerned that the basin's water was a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. ``I always liked the duck pond A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other water birds. Often such ponds are artificial and ornamental in nature, in public parks for example. Sometimes they may be less ornamental, in a farmyard for example. Some duck ponds are purposefully built for the shooting of duck. . I've taken my niece and nephew to feed the ducks,'' Winn said. ``I'm extremely sympathetic, but then again we can take them out to Apollo Park. It would cost us more to keep it as a space for those ducks, and we need the land.'' Winn stressed that the basin is not a natural habitat and that school staffers have used a hose to fill it when the winter rain water dries up in summer. The basin was fenced a couple of years ago after a duck bit a child visiting from nearby Cottonwood School, Winn said. In 1996, school officials proposed draining the basin and building tennis courts or other recreation facilities. Students protested that time, too, and the proposal was dropped. This time, students say cars can be parked on a former parking lot taken over by portable classrooms during a construction project that is now finished. The teachers' parking lot usually has plenty of spaces, he said. ``We feel the entire project does lack a rationally compelling reason. There isn't a real reason to get rid of it. We don't need a parking lot,'' Long said. Long added that vector control Vector control is any method to limit or eradicate the vectors of vector born diseases, for which the pathogen (e.g. virusor parasite) is transmitted by a vector which can be mammals, birds or arthropods, especially insects, and more specifically mosquitoes. inspectors said they have found no signs of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus West Nile virus, microorganism and the infection resulting from it, which typically produces no symptoms or a flulike condition. The virus is a flavivirus and is related to a number of viruses that cause encephalitis. . To lessen the impact of the project, work will begin and end outside the breeding season Breeding season is the most suitable season usually with favorable conditions and abundant food and water when wild animals and birds (wildlife) have naturally evolved to breed to achieve the best reproductive success. for local native birds, the environmental report said. Clearing and cutting vegetation and draining of the pond will start between March 15 and Sept. 15, the report said. While the basin does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act, if needed, the district will purchase other acreage, in consultation with the state Department of Fish and Game, to replace lost habitat, the report said. Winn said the district will probably not be required to do that. Native birds or locally breeding migratory songbirds observed in the basin and nearby areas include northern mockingbird, house finch, lark sparrow, Brewer's blackbird, Say's phoebe, black phoebe, lesser goldfinch goldfinch: see finch. goldfinch Any of several species (genus Carduelis, family Carduelidae) of songbirds that have a short, notched tail and much yellow in the plumage. , Anna's hummingbird, cliff swallow, and great-tailed grackle. A number of relatively tame domestic duck-mallard hybrids are present year-round. Students were seen feeding the ducks, the report said. Species that nested within the marshland habitat include red-winged blackbird, tricolored blackbird, common yellowthroat, and song sparrow, the report said. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Lake Highland, a wildlife habitat, will be drained over student objections and turned into a parking lot, the school board has decided. The ducks and fish will be moved. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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