Stay in school, kids. Or if not, stay out of government. Because when you misunderstand fundamental notions like ‘sustainability’, you can make stupid decisions. The Castle Rock government’s ignorance of such a basic concept, left unchecked, would wreak damage on the Front Range’s land base in and near the municipality.

At the May 5 Town Council meeting, following Unscheduled Public Appearances (where citizens ostensibly are allowed to address the Council), Castle Rock Martinet Paul Donahue asked staffers to address issues brought up by the speakers (a clumsy attempt to control damage brought about by his repeated refusal to respond in the previous 4-5 meetings, particularly regarding development of the Promenade Mall and the mass killing of local prairie dogs).

But I digress. In the Unscheduled Appearances, Randy Meyer questioned the Council’s plans to grow the municipality to 100,000 people by 2050, essentially doubling its size. Randy’s concern was that there is not enough water in the area now, let alone to support a population twice the current size. Sounds like a reasonable critique of the sustainability of the town, don’t you think? Water is a basic requirement, after all.

Not according to the mega-minds in Castle Rock. Castle Rock Utilities Director Mark Marlowe, asked by Donahue to address Randy’s critique, talked about how growth is a good thing, because it creates economies of scale. [Huh?] Yeah, according to Marlowe, a larger population means the proposed water pipeline will cost less per capita.

Water Pipeline?? Excuse me; this is your idea of sustainability? The Castle Rock crew has essentially admitted, in an administrative Freudian slip, that the growth plan is not sustainable. Clearly, there is not enough water to sustain the current population, let alone population growth. So, let’s suck the water from someone else, right? We’re all familiar with the Vampire legend – these creatures of the night exist beyond their natural limits by literally sucking the lifeblood from others. Who cares what lives those poor suckers (pardon the expression) had going, or what the impact would be on the victims’ loved ones or the world they inhabited? Vampires will continue their unnatural existence and damn the consequences. I guess this lifestyle is ‘sustainable’, all right but only in the most twisted, mocking sense of the term.

Wow, the more I wrote on that metaphor, the better it fit the Castle Rock water ‘sustainability’ plan. The Castle Rock Town Council, generally working in opposition to any ‘sunshine’ rules of governance, are setting in play a plan for the area that cannot sustain itself without taking resources from others. In doing so, they hope to extend Castle Rock beyond any natural or healthy limits, and damn the consequences (to the land base, prairie dogs and other wildlife, or sense of community). This characterization is true of any growth / development, and Castle Rock is merely the latest in a millennia-long series of sad and evil examples.

What to do? To forgive extending this metaphor any further, how about driving a stake into the heart of this evil, unnatural, deathly plan? Deep Green Resistance supports the work of the Prairie Dog Liberation Front (PDLF) and Wildlands Defense in resisting the efforts of Donahue and others to destroy all that is good about the Castle Rock area. DGR can and will provide what resources we can; equally important, we call for wider resistance to development, growth, and the continued destruction of life in Castle Rock. We urge all readers to support or join PDLF, Wildlands Defends, and/or Deep Green Resistance to fight for life. Otherwise, we know how this horror story ends.

Here’s how to join/support:

Prairie Dog Liberation Front

Wildlands Defense

Deep Green Resistance