How much chaos can a Zigzag salamander cause?

Tensions over the construction of a National Guard armory at Richmond Hill Park flared again last week when an e-mail circulated by park advocate James Wood announced the recent discovery of a rare salamander.

The Southern Zigzag Salamander (plethodon ventralis) is listed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission as a species of Special Concern, but is not ranked federally as an endangered species, which would mandate protection of its habitat. The unsuspecting amphibian has spurred a debate between ecologically minded folk, who tout the park as a biodiverse gem, and City Council Member Carl Mumpower, a supporter of the armory who defended his description of the salamander as a “slippery little rascal” as “one of those rare personal opportunities for humor.” Portions of the e-mail exchange are reprinted below, in chronological order.

— Rebecca Bowe, editorial assistant

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From: James Wood [mailto:aquaticmind@gmail.com] 

Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 1:27 PM

To: [multiple addresses]
Subject: New Salamander found at Richmond Hill Park,, yeppie

Hello everyone
I just wanted to share some information about the park with you. I was recently informed that the Southern Zigzag Salamander [(plethodon ventralis)] has been found in the park by the [North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission], which is working with Parks and Rec to study the wetlands in the park. To the best of my knowledge this is a state special concern species and is a new site record, previously the furthest south this species has been found is the Madison/Buncombe Co. Line. The growing understanding of the ecology of the park is great and clearly indicates that this park is priceless and a real treasure to the City of Asheville. As a greater understanding of the parks ecology is ascertained I have no doubts that this park will be a prominent feature of Asheville’s parks system for its biologic diversity and diverse recreation opportunities.

Just so you know the Armory is still planned to be built in the park, where the old disc golf course was, and it is still a bad idea. It takes away 12 acres of public park land, several hundreds feet of stream side trails, seeps and wetlands, and poses a threat to the water quality of the Smith Creek, which has already been degraded by construction preformed by the Armory. Please let city council know that allowing the Armory to be built in the park is still a bad idea!

Below is a list of some of the uncommon plants and animals found in Richmond Hill Park, but so little is known about what is out there, who knows what might be there. I will try to get some species list put together for you in the near future.

Marble Salamander
Southern Zigzag Salamander
Southern Nodding Trillium
Eastern Fairy Shrimp

Enjoy the beauty and diversity of this unique place and I hope to see you out in the park.

Thank you
James Wood

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From: DrMumpower@aol.com [mailto:DrMumpower@aol.com] 

Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 4:43 PM

To: [multiple addresses]
Subject: Re: New Salamander found at Richmond Hill Park,, yeppie

It would not be my intention to endorse this slippery little rascal as a means to sidestepping our commitments.

Carl Mumpower
Asheville City Council

On Fri, June 1, 2007 8:13 am,  [Carl Mumpower] wrote:

Mr. Holland,

My earlier response was one of those rare personal opportunities for humor.

That said, I do believe we should maintain our word. It’s my sense that
the men and women of our military are more at risk than the marble
salamander.

Please see fact sheet below and then perhaps we can explore the use of
 the marble salamander as an authentic reason to derail our commitment to the National Guard.

Thank you,

Carl Mumpower

Asheville City Council

_____________________________________________________________

In a message dated 6/1/2007 4:37:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [Bud Holland] writes:

Dr. Mumpower,

It is my understanding that the armory would be designated primarily as a
 storage facility for night-vision goggles and other equipment. It is also
 my understanding there would be no training conducted at this particular
 facility, and the non-operational facility’s potential relocation would jeopardize neither the safety nor the welfare of a single armed service member. While I can appreciate your patriotic fervor, I find your comparison of native wildlife with soldiers to be out of context and hardly legitimate in this situation. I would also like to point out, though I’m sure you are already aware, that there is much more to the unique ecological value of this particular area than a single salamander species. Perhaps this can be discussed further in the near future.

Bh

——————————————————————————————-

Quoting [Carl Mumpower]:

Mr. Holland,
I appreciate the opportunity to chat with you about this. I do believe there are efforts to artificially inflate the ecological realities at this park site.  Such has been a part of the process since the days that a half dozen wheel barrows of dirt on a large magnitude project were inflated into a disaster of monumental proportions. Distortions of facts and realities are a form of lying. It would be fair to say that we all miss the mark on the truth on occasion. Whether it is by accident or design matters. In this case, I believe design and an “ends justifies the means” philosophy serves us all poorly. How we get there is at least as important as where we arrive.

Thank you,

Carl Mumpower

——————————————————————————————-

Dr. Mumpower,


To echo the sentiments of what Elaine said, there is absolutely no 
inflation of ecological realities accompanying the discovery of species 
and communities that actually exist at a site.  Are you suggesting 
these species are just phantoms that only exist in the minds of 
well-trained scientists and environmental advocates and are not to be 
found at Richmond Hill?



The truth is they do live out there, and what some city officials 
(those who support intensive development of the site) have tried to 
label as an ecologically poor park turns out to be a much more 
interesting and biologically diverse site than what was represented in 
environmental impact statements and comments to the public. Were the 
city-approved statements describing the biological poverty of Richmond 
Hill Park intentionally done to devalue it and make way for 
development, or were they made “by accident” by people who just did not 
know the value this park until after it was pointed out to them by 
concerned citizens?



As someone who has spent years wandering the hills and valleys out 
there and is a trained ecologist, I can tell you that the site is 
biologically rich and has great ecological value. While it is not a 
“pristine” site, the discovery of these species is a sign that the 
park’s ecosystem is very healthy in many places (such as where it has 
not been recently bulldozed and/or paved), and it is highly likely that 
other interesting and uncommon species will be found there as efforts 
to identify them continue.
As to your earlier point about needing to honor our agreement with the 
guard, finding an alternate location outside of this park for the 
armory complex does not rescind the deal to provide a site for the 
complex and should not cause you any worry (it’s not as if moving the 
armory out of the park to protect wildlife and greenspace means that 
the terrorists win, or whatever it is you were trying to insinuate….
please do not insult environmental advocacy by equating it with 
anti-Americanism…. that is politics at its “finest” if you ask me, 
and a cheap shot at people who are trying to protect a valuable and 
rare public resource for all of Asheville’s citizens).



This site is not suited for such a project. The parking lot fiasco has 
made that abundantly clear.  Further, as the ballfields at Richmond 
Hill have been removed from this plan (which was a good decision), the 
terms of the deal are not now being met by the National Guard, which 
suggests a revision of the agreement may be in order. That would be 
the ideal time to find an alternative location for both ballfields and 
the armory complex. Preferably, we could find sites that are already 
cleared/graded and will be improved by conversion to their new uses 
(such as cleaning up the old industrial sites along the French Broad 
which are eyesores and potential hazards).  That seems like a good 
place to spend political capital and energy, and a real win-win 
situation.
Thank you for your time,
-Neville Handel

____________________________________________________________

From: DrMumpower@aol.com [mailto:DrMumpower@aol.com] 
f
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 9:11 AM

To: [multiple recipients]
Subject: [SPAM] – Re: New Salamander found at Richmond Hill Park – Bayesian Filter detected spam

Mr. Handel,

I regret that we share different perspectives on the approaches being taken to challenging park development at Richmond Hill. Inflation of realities has been a persistent tool of those opposing the park. The species mentioned are real – their state of risk and the crucial role this park plays in their future much less so.

Thank you,
Carl M.