Caspers Park Ban on Minors Is Tragic and Unjustifiable

Your recent editorial, “Keep Wilderness Within Reach” (Feb. 7), was appropriately juxtaposed with another editorial titled “Gun Play.” It is indeed a sad commentary on our times when children are denied access to natural surroundings, yet daily exposed to the violence of our crowded, unhealthy cities.

If our children are to grow to become advocates for the environment, they must be allowed to learn to live at one with it. Caspers Wilderness Park has provided the space for children and their families to experience, firsthand, what remains of thousands of years of native flora and fauna in the South County area.

Of course, their safety is of primary importance. With established park regulations, the children’s safety, enjoyment and education can be provided for. By denying children access to Caspers Wilderness Park, attendance will surely decrease, and perhaps someone will get the “bright idea” to close the park all together.

Then the drooling developers can finish it off! Condos, mega-mansions, and mini-malls will provide the final death blow to our local natural world. Our desensitized children will be able to sit numbly by and gaze at “wildlife” romping across their television screens!

GRACE VAN THILLO, San Clemente