November 9, 2007

Mr. Stroll:

Your claim that modern lighting systems are safe simply means they are safe for the human users of these systems. Countless studies on wildlife have shown that unnatural lights at night can "freeze" animals, in fact some frogs have remained motionless for hours after exposure to human lights. Science News  magazine a few years ago specifically mentioned the dangers to wildlife  caused by night lights from vehicles. Since many animals are nocturnal, both predators and prey, their success is negatively impacted by the countless thrill-seeking nighttime mountain bikers. It's bad enough to have cars and roads everywhere, but shouldn't a few natural areas and parks allow animals a little respite from human destructiveness? A quiet moonlight hike is unobtrusive, but a group of 100 watt headlights flying down a trail is just too much. Thanks for your selfish behavior , typical of mountain bikers who don't care about other users, both human and animal.

By the way, a schoolteacher here in Marin County had her class put up signs on Mt. Tamalpais asking people to watch out for the newt migration each year. Do bikers ever even see the newts or care at the speeds they go?

Carlo Gardin