MAILBAG:

Skimmer Island has shown its value for the birds of Upper Newport Bay, given the extensive use of the island by the birds and its high visibility from the public viewpoints off Jamboree Road and Eastbluff Drive.

Tern islands tend to get overcrowded with birds, as demonstrated at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, so there is a need for more islands in the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve.

Having three islands in the Upper Bay is better than having two islands, recalling that the California least tern is an endangered species that needs more habitat, not less.

Upper Newport Bay is an ecological reserve, not a dumping ground for inland sediment coming down San Diego Creek. The desire to dredge to 20 feet is to use the bay as a sediment basin, not for ecological benefit. We should be maintaining and increasing the ecological resources of the Upper Bay by retaining Skimmer Island rather than removing it to convert it into a 20-foot deep sediment basin. This could be done by removing this part of the plan from the project.

The required depths of 7 to 14 feet for meeting the standards for sediment total maximum daily loads required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board can be reached without removing Skimmer Island. The cost of the Upper Newport Bay Ecosystem Restoration Project has now ballooned to $45 million.

Saving Skimmer Island would not only preserve an existing important environmental resource, but also save us millions of dollars in unneeded dredging costs.

In this case, it would not be such a bad idea if the federal government did not come forward with any more money to continue this exercise in dredging excess.

JAN D. VANDERSLOOT

Newport Beach

Our budget outweighs presidential race

With the recent announcement of the state Assembly’s failure to reach a state budget, leaving the state at the verge of bankruptcy, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest should turn his attention away from the presidential race and focus on a new bestseller: “A Purpose Driven State” since the Democrats can’t seem to get their head out of their Democratic donkey.

RUSS NIEWIAROWSKI

Newport Beach