Wetland Update
By Jessica
Good News! The Sanborn wetland is finally being
recognized by the students. In a recent poll of 176 people, 100 of those
students were actually aware that Sanborn has a wetland. The percentage
of those who were unaware is becoming smaller by the day.
If you are one of those people who knows we have a wetland, you probably
know what it's like. Did you ever wonder what the wetland was like
in the earlier days, like say in the early 1900's or even before?
After doing some research, Sue Brown, Ian Perkins, and I were surprised
to learn what kinds of things the wetlands were used for through the years.
The wetland probably formed as a kettle hole
as the glaciers of the Ice Age receded. By the late 1940's, much
of it was open and called Carter Swamp. Since a lot of it was open,
the bottom tip of the wetland was used for ice skating. There have
been stories around town that people even dumped old cars in the swamp.
As time gradually passed, the wetland went
from an open pond to shrubbery, and then to the thick growth including
trees we see now. By the 60's and 70's the wetland was basically
used as a dump. We've found tar, soda cans and bottles, broken dishes,
and a lot of unidentified gunk. At some point, someone threw trash
and big pieces of tar in and around the wetland. There also have
been signs that it once included a burning pit.
Today, many of us abuse the wetland.
It holds people's trash and is used for new parking spots. Luckily,
we now know that people are starting to care about the wetlands and want
to use it for something more natural and useful.
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