Foothills Sentry - October 2024

Foothills Sentry Page 10 OCTOBER 2024 ORANGE UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD Educational Experience You Can Trust “ As a dedicated member of this community and a passionate advocate for education, I am committed to ensuring that every child receives the high-quality instruction they deserve in a safe and welcoming environment. ” www.page4ousd.com “ As a proud product and advocate of K-12 public schools, I support every child’s right to a free education and will ensure that the needs of our diverse communities are met. Together we will move this district forward, creating a culture of caring, collaboration, innovation, and success. ” www.pelly4ousd.com “ As a Trustee, I will continue to advocate for policies that bene t all students, champion community engagement, and support educational innovation. I am dedicated to working collaboratively with parents, teachers, sta , and board members. ” www.drglass4ousd.com OUSD graduate and current OUSD parent Early Education Specialist/Consultant Doctoral Student (PhD in Education) at Chapman University Retired OUSD Principal, 35 year career in education Community Volunteer- notably as the handler for therapy dog “Orvis” Literacy Director for the Attallah College at Chapman University OUSD Parent 27 Years experience in public education Professor of Education at California State University Long Beach Ana Page Current OUSD Board President Sara Pelly Current OUSD Trustee, Area 4 Dr.Stephen Glass Current OUSD Trustee, Area 7 Paid for by Dr Stephen Glass for OUSD School Board 2024 FPPC #1470323 Support Page, Pelly & Glass for School Board JOIN PARENTS & TEACHERS! Let ’ s Move OUSD Forward Together These hills are my hills. How dare you take them away! By Robert Detrano Since the day my first kittens came into this world, I have wan- dered these hills. In these bushy gullies, I quietly stalked coyotes and raccoons. They are dinner, my family's dinner. There is sweet water in the stream that runs to Peters Canyon Pond. There are clumps of bushes and trees where I can build a den to keep my next brood of tiny spotted babies, until they are ready for the hunt. I rest under the cypress and oak during the early afternoon, when the sun is hot. I remember the sweet past, but I fear the bitter future. Every year, I pass the rivers of black stone that meet near the red/green lights. Others attempt to traverse these torrents of roar- ing metal beasts, but I keep my distance. One of my sisters met her terrible end trying to cross, and my mother lost her life near that place. Why do those strange two-legged animals treat us as if we do not feel pain and sorrow when we lose a mother or sister? Today, an ugly green fence sur- rounds the hills. A noisy beast, The map shows where Orange Heights homes will be located. The small, closed circles show where mountain lions have been detected. The spotted skunk was photographed on the land that is to be bulldozed and turned into a housing development. Endangered Least Bell's Vireo has been seen on the site. Trail camera footage of a puma roaming the housing tract acreage. larger than the great grizzlies, is digging deep into the earth and spewing filthy smoke into the pure, clean air. It is making foul dirt hills where there was clean brown sage for the deer to eat. It is gutting the deep green scrub oaks, Tecate cypress, and toyon bushes. A two-legged creature is riding this monster. My priceless hills will be gone forever. How will I get to the pond in Peters Canyon? How will I find a den to give birth to the babies growing inside of me? Our Santa Ana Mountains have one of the nation's most diverse wildlife population living within densely urban Orange County. Residents and visitors can enjoy splendid landscapes and wild- life, thanks to the Nature Conser- vancy, the Irvine Ranch Conser- vancy, and Orange County Parks. There is one region of this wil- derness that we cannot visit. We can see these hills from the cor- ner of Jamboree and Chapman. They are a wildlife corridor be- tween Irvine Regional Park and Peters Canyon. Wild mammals and birds populate the grass- lands, chaparral, riparian, and mountains on both sides of this corridor. Scientists have tracked mountain lions traversing these hills. The map's small circles are where the California Mountain Lion Project has detected Puma concolor. The Irvine Company plans to build the Orange Heights housing project in the hashed- line areas on the map. The new inhabitants will live in homes where our magnificent mountain lions once abided. The work on destroying the wildlife corridor between Irvine Park and Peters Canyon Park has already begun. The land mov- ers will bulldoze and rip its pre- cious flora from the earth. The bulldozers will terminate thou- sands of birds, insects, and small mammals. Wildlife in the Or- ange County open spaces will no longer have access to the water in Peters Canyon. That includes several endangered and rare spe- cies, such as Least Bell's Vireo and the spotted skunk. This destruction of flora and massacre of fauna is progressing to make way for 1,180 Orange Heights dwellings that will suck resources from our high-fire- danger region. Who will pay for the additional firefighters to fight the fires endangering the new homes? Who will pay for the ex- tra police to patrol traffic on the East Orange roads? You will pay with increased property taxes. But those who will pay the highest price are our furry friends, the bobcats, foxes, deer, and mountain lions. Our feath- ered neighbors, warblers, to- whees, orioles, hawks, and owls will pay with their lives.