Unfortunately, this chick died the same night the letter was distributed throughout our neighborhood, despite efforts by concerned neighbors and our wonderful local bird rescuer.

More than sad, this story is one that should never have been told it was completely preventable. The owners of the dog responsible for injuring the young crane were repeatedly asked by neighbors to keep their dogs from roaming and warned that the dogs ran the risk of being shot if seen harassing wildlife.

Troopers were notified weeks prior to the crane's injury, as well as the day of, and were well aware of the on-going problem. They chose not to respond but did say we could shoot the dogs if necessary and did offer to call the owners.

I don't know if the owners were ever called, much less fined for allowing their dog to cause an unrecoverable injury and ultimate death of our first young crane in three years.

I do know that troopers in Homer are creating a situation where neighbors are forced to take matters into their own hands because Wildlife Protection Officers are not available, and that's not right.

It is apparent that law enforcement in Homer is already stretched too thin. Wildlife aside, aggressive drivers tailgate and speed through our town, and ATVs run through wetlands and critical habitat all without notice.

If the troopers move their post to Anchor Point without putting in Homer a few of the 20 new positions just added by the governor, they are merely going to exchange one problem area for another. What we need is more trooper presence and response not less.

Kim Cooney Donohue