By HARDY JACKSONSpecial to the Press-Register
OK. Here are the facts, as best I can ascertain.
The beach mouse is endangered; we know that. So anything that would further endanger what is already in danger cannot be allowed.
Recreational boating is a big deal down along the Alabama Gulf Coast. It entertains folks and brings in a lot of money.
Orange Beach has two public boat ramps, at Cotton Bayou and Boggy Point. When the weather warms and the weekends come, the public, for whom the ramps were built, uses them -- a lot. Cars and trucks and trailers spill out of the parking area, line the shoulder of the road, obstruct traffic, and inconvenience everybody.
Solution? Build another public ramp.
Where? Well, how about on five acres of state-owned land on Perdido Key, which has easy access to the Gulf?
But there is opposition.
Across the way is Ono Island, a gated enclave where multimillionaires have mega-mansions. They don't want the ramp. And on Perdido Key, near the place where the ramp is to be built, are the Caribe Resort condominiums. Those folks don't want it, either.
Why? Because it would further endanger the endangered Perdido Key beach mouse.
Say what?
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