Needed: Development of Common Sense

* A lone toad (which may have fallen out of a camper), though “endangered,” enjoys a habitat from San Luis Obispo to Baja and stops development of 4,300 homes (“Discovery of Endangered Toad Prompts Review of Permit,” May 1). Ridiculous! How many people are out counting arroyo toads?

Better we start looking at such developments in terms of infrastructure support. Sure, they’ll build schools and parks, but what about resources beyond the developments? Highways, gas, electricity, water, airport service, expanded police and fire service requirements? How many people can our state absorb? Forget the toads. Look at the big picture!

CARL HOKANSON

Encino

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Re “Water and Population,” letter, April 30: I say let’s put golf courses on the table too. Golf is a decadent, wasteful sport that is ecologically damaging and uses a tremendous amount of water to cater to the needs of only a few. Let us also put people like Bill Gates on the table, whose water consumption in a year was 60 times that of a typical homeowner in Seattle (April 28).

Let us also not blame immigrants for every malady that hits our state. As long as there are golf courses and Gates-like people in California, there will be a water shortage. Water is a finite resource that can meet our demands only if conservation and common sense prevail.

KAZI A. ALAM

Los Angeles