I live across the train tracks from a beautiful forest. I don't mind the train. It goes pretty slow, and they don't normally blow their horn. So I can deal with it. But the trees on the other side of the tracks are amazing! I've seen raccoons, owls, and all kinds of birds on or near my yard.

Turns out there are more than 16 acres of forest adjacent to the south side of Park Circle along Bexley St. east of S. Rhett. The other side of the forest borders the salt marsh on Noisette Creek.

This isn't the land rumored to become the new Firefly Distillery where the old dump was. It's across the street from that tract. The forest here is tract 470-12-00-001 and tract 470-12-00-094.

Today, they posted a sign saying these woods, one of the few large tracts of green space left in our neighborhood, are going up for auction. Inevitably, a developer will come in, clear cut the land, stick up some cheaply built homes on tiny lots, make a fast buck, and ruin what is one of the few pristine green spaces we have in Park Circle.

I've always thought how nice it would be to turn this little forest into a park. I imagine something with trails that weave through the trees and skirt along the marsh. I imagine someday someone putting in a kayak and paddling all the way down past Coast Brewing to Riverfront Park. We live in a city surrounded by water. But how much water do we actually have access to?

I even heard creating a park was part of the original Noisette plan about a decade ago. They called it a "sanctuary". I love this idea. I stop in my tracks every time I see a barred owl fly silently into a tree nearby. I stare into the trees across the tracks from my yard. It is a sanctuary already! Let's make this happen! Stop the auction, and turn the Noisette Creek Sanctuary into park!