Fresno Famous

I'm not the one behind homeplate with

the double ziplock bags in my oversized cowboy boots. My socks and feet don't smell like JD. Besides the food stands don't have soda water.
Now considering the tagged down gangsters and other people of fine looking morals they hire to work there do we really know?
Maybe thats why the bathrooms smell like Grape Swisher Sweets and Cherry Blunts
See you at the game.
;-)

Are you sure that's garlic

Are you sure that's garlic in those garlic fries?

Here we go again Northe` Fresno wanting more tax dollars.

The Aquarium is another bad idea of the Northe` Fresno Bluff crowd. Siphon off public tax dollars to build an aquarium for the elitist River Pork Snobs.
We don't need it and don't need a new zoo.
The City could not take care of the old zoo as it was.
The "new" zoo as it has been set up with its elitist board of Gottrock's Northe` Bluff Housewives can't handle the zoo.
The whole Zoo tax was an elitist scam to create a board and jobs for people that don't need jobs or money. They shamelessly used a little girl and an elephant to mislead voters.
The "new" zoo has been a failure.
They know the public will not support an aquarium tax.
Also why is it the taxpayers job to pay for school kids to go to the ocean? Isn't that the parents responsibility? Maybe if mama would put down her pipe she'd have money to take trips to the ocean.
Taxpayers already pay enough for school buses but you can't get a school bus for field trips. The school has to take money out of its regular budget for bus costs. Also if your leaving the district you have to rent private buses to take kids to the ocean.
FUSD buses will not leave the district.
Most local FUSD field trips use the City bus to get to the museums, park and fair. The kids ride for free shifting the cost from FUSD to the taxpayers. You don't see alot of FUSD buses used on field trips.
The money and buses are there but not used for the kids.

Zoo move next to Aquarium

back when around the time of Measure E there are a report and even a planed map of a new Zoo to be build near the Aquarium.
It was talked about on here by Jarah and others, but the search still sucks so bad I can't find the post, that even had a link to the FresnoBee's image of the planed map of the New Zoo.

"80% of our Valley children have never visited the ocean"
I bet you would save more money by just taking local Children on a annual Bus trip to the Ocean than building a maintaining a Aquarium. Then your 80% statistic will be down.

1 year and almost 4 months

the last time craig scharton commented on this thread was about a year and a third ago. so, although, the comment by mr. lang is verrrrrrrry late to the conversation, it is quite helpful in understanding the aquarium and how it does relate to our local scene.

it's too bad it took so long to appear in this thread. it would have been very helpful for the discussion.

re: I don't get it

As I work in Fresno with the delta smelt, the species that has caused all the ruckus about people vs. fish right here in Fresno with Judge Wanger's Endangered Species Act rulings, I thought back to this post by Craig Scharton which I read last year but vowed not to reply to because of its obvious ignorance. People who have really followed our progress understand that Aquarius Aquarium Institute is, and will continue to be, so much more than Craig seems to think.

But then, the little 3 inch smelt swimming around happily in our holding tank, made me realize how important it is for me to correct the misconceptions some folks like Craig continue to have. I accept some of the blame for this, because I should realize that not everyone realizes the impact Aquariums can have on their communities and that some of the most successful Aquariums in the world are, of course, nowhere near the ocean (Chicago, Chattanooga, Paris, Jenks Oklahoma and the largest in the world in Atlanta). Are Beluga Whales in the Windy City inauthentic? Perhaps as inauthentic as penguins and coral reefs in Monterey - but not irrelevant.

A survey taken a couple of years ago revealed that upwards of 80% of our Valley children have never visited the ocean, let alone an Aquarium. Sure the Monterey Bay Aquarium offers educational tours to schoolchildren, but these are allocated by lottery and less than 1% of our county schools had a class lucky enough to be chosen last year. Valley teachers and children may pay to stand in line to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium whenever they like, but unless they have an exceptional teacher, these students are not afforded the same experience as those who are led by an Aquarium education staff member. Julie Packard, executive director, whom I have spoken with, agrees that their institution simply cannot provide for the needs of all the Valley students.

Aquarius Aquarium Institute in Fresno is, and will continue to be, authentic. While we have had freshwater Riparian Habitats in our plans (and on our website) since we began this endeavor, our region is inextricably linked to the oceans via the San Joaquin River, California's second longest river. The story of this river and the history of this watershed is the primary legacy of our region. Lest we repeat the actions of the past, educating our youth and general population about how aquatic ecosystems work, or worked in the past, is vital. Understanding how the river in our own backyard connects us to nature and the greater world beyond our Garden City under the Sierra Nevada enriches our population and encourages thinking beyond the persistently provincial.

Yes, Craig, Fresno is all about Agriculture and Water. Nobody knew that better than the fig farmers who donated the 10 acres for the Aquarium. But not simply the water we drink or with which we shower or irrigate our fields, but also the water that is the lifeblood of all the species that have depended or still depend upon this massive, interconnected ecosystem for their survival. Our region's natural history began long before immigrants, air basins, runoff and produce dominated our society. The Native Americans who lived here not all that long ago understood this and their connection to fish and the streams, rivers, lakes (yes, Tulare Lake) full of species that no longer exist in our Valley is as tightly woven as their fish baskets. This is one of the most important stories Fresno's future Aquarium along the banks of the San Joaquin River will tell.

Looking closely at the delta smelt (you know, they really do smell like cucumbers), I hope they realize that some people out there understand how discovering who we are is directly tied to discovering the natural world around us.

Tom Lang
www.AquariusAquarium.org

p.s. For those who are concerned about the amount of water an Aquarium uses, you need to know that Fresno's will utilize a state-of-the-art closed filtration system which reuses the same water over and over again. The Aquarium will use far less water than a housing development on the same 10 acres and none will be taken from, or discharged into, the San Joaquin River.