|
On Tuesday, January 6th, Julie,
Pomera and I were going to meet at the Bountiful Landfill to try for the gulls
reported previously by Eric. However, we knew that previous access had
been denied whenever the manager was present. Therefore, prior to meeting
them at the landfill I called the manager to determine if we could be granted
access, since we did not want to try to enter and not be able to do so.
When I talked to him he told me that birders had been there in the past and they
had gotten in the way of their operation. Another had recently refused to
leave when asked to to do. Yet another had gotten stuck in the mud on the
unimproved circumference road, which required them to divert their workforce to
help the person stuck in the mud. He told me that because of this he did
not want us to have access to the landfill.
I asked him if there were
someone else I could talk to and he gave me the name of his supervisor, Terry
Thompson, who is in charge of the Dept. of Streets for the City of
Bountiful. I called Mr. Thompson and explained to him my conversation with
the manager of the landfill. At first he tended to agree with his
manager. However, I explained the importance of the landfill to the
birders in the area, because of its proximity to Farmington Bay, and many rare
gulls had been seen there. In fact, some where there right now. I
also asked him if we could arrive at some mutually agreeable rules that would be
satisfactory to them and us, so we could continue to use the landfill; such as
times of use, restrictions as to places of travel, etc. (By this
time I was already on my way to the landfill to meet with Julie and Pomera, and
told him so.)
He told me that he would speak
with the landfill manager and get right back to me. At about the
time I arrived at the landfill he called me back and told me that he had
talked to his manager and they agreed that it would be ALL RIGHT for birders to
use the landfill for birding purposes under the following
conditions.
Rules for Access to
the Bountiful Landfill:
1. We need to come within
hours of operation and check in at the office at the
entrance.
2. Do NOT go up on top
where they are using the heavy equipment and where we might interfere with their
operation.
3. Do NOT block any of
the roads so that the heavy vehicles and equipment are impeded in their entering
and leaving the landfill.
4. Follow any
instructions that might be given (even if it means not seeing that rare
gull).
5. Stay on designated
roads. But, when there is a thaw and the roads are muddy, stay out of
areas where you can get stuck. If you get stuck it is up to you to get
yourself out. They do NOT want to take time away from their working
employees.
6. We must leave the
landfill by 4:00 p.m. (1600 hours for us military folks), so we won't be locked
in. (This was especially one of
the conditions
emphasized!)
*
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
*
Since we have been denied
access in the past, I feel this permission is very beneficial to all of us, who
are looking for that rare gull. I don't think I need to mention other
rules of courtesy, etc., that would apply to us as their guests--since they
don't have to allow access to the landfill.
Please observe these rules and
we should be able to enjoy this valuable birding location for a long time in the
future.
Thanks for reading this lengthy
e-mail. Good birding! [I understand the Glaucous and Lesser
Black-backed Gulls were again seen today.]
Happy New Year and Good Birding
to everyone!
Glenn
|