September 24 Class

As we continue to talk about how all species fit into the bigger picture I was surprised on how many of our medicines come from plant life - never really thought of where they get the ingredients before. It is interesting to see how land use and the control of land uses play into this bigger picture of biodiversity. I believe property rights need to be protected but at the same time controls can be put into place to meet the needs of individual people, developers and businesses - one idea which really belongs to a sitting Dauphin County Commissioner is to document all buildings in the county and determine uses for those buildings, then when there is a need for a new business to move in or expand, instead of using pristine land to build before they get approvals they need to look at the existing stock. Something I think would be a big step in the right direction.