Posts Tagged ‘Spanish Lake’

Come to Fort Belle Fontaine on January 23 for an up-close experience with both bald eagles and North County's frontier history. Credit: Greg Wacker

Fort Belle Fontaine Park is a magical place any time of year, but this Saturday, the frontier-era former military post will also be a bird watcher’s wonderland. Offering sweeping views of the Missouri River, where many bald eagles do their winter fishing, the park will host well-known birder Kraig Paradise and experts from the World Bird Sanctuary.

Visitors will be able to see a live eagle and other birds of prey up close. They’ll also have a chance to view migrating eagles through telescopes and take a guided three-mile nature hike through historic Fort Belle.

Lewis and Clark camped here in both 1804 and 1806. The park is also home to a number of architectural treasures, including the (allegedly haunted) Grand Staircase built by WPA crews in the 1930s. If the river is low, you might even have a chance to see the actual Belle Fontaine, or “beautiful fountain,” a lovely underground spring that flows into the Missouri.

Saturday’s event is sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of Fort Belle Fontaine Park. It’s free and open to the public, January 23, 11am-2pm, at 13002 Bellefontaine Road, 63138.

Would you ruin this idyllic setting with a casino?

One of North County’s greatest assets is its natural beauty, and few areas of NoCo are more lovely than the sprawling river bottoms bordering the Mississippi River, not far from Spanish Lake.

A development company calling itself North County LLC would like to take these enchanting wetlands, a haven for migratory birds and other wildlife, and build a casino on them. Right next to the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area.

The Sierra Club, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Spanish Lake Community Association and many other groups are vehemently opposed to this idea, and so am I. Unfortunately, the St. Louis County Council voted last night to move the process forward, meaning they will vote on the proposed zoning changes in the next few weeks.

If you are opposed to this new casino, please contact your county councilperson ASAP. You can also learn more about why this casino is a “losing bet” for North County by following the nonprofit links above.