I applaud Robin Starzman’s suggestions (“Evergreen should remove grass,” Our Readers’ Views, March 14) that the budget cutters in Evergreen Public Schools take a look at making cuts to the endless and ongoing maintenance of grass and landscaping.
Expanding on that vision, I think it is past time for our collective concept of greenspace management to be reexamined. While I enjoyed walking the open space near Clark College, Fort Vancouver High School and Fort Vancouver, during the COVID shutdown, I noticed that the only folks to be seen were the maintenance workers riding mowers and keeping the grass looking “good.” This included the leafblower crew moving leaves from here to there, collecting and taking those unsightly tree droppings away.
So, cheers to the Clark College landscaping team for plowing the perimeter of their sports fields to plant a bee- and butterfly-friendly zone. Pollinators are said to be responsible for 35 percent of our food supply, and most of our current landscaping practices are adversarial to their process. May the rest of our public space and school administrators take note.