The price of development

Photo by Suzanne Kindler-Enz

A lone great white egret watches with concern as the large orange crane of a developer threatens his habitat in northeast Columbia. The trees, which have been the nightly roosting site for numerous herons and egrets over the years, are being cleared in preparation for the building of many closely spaced homes. Neighborhood efforts to negotiate with the developers and to preserve the area on the small pond from demolition have failed.