President-elect Trump plans to “drain the swamp.” He’d drastically cut down employee numbers in our federal government. To most of us, this is murky territory for envisioning. Think of someone without mechanical experience opening the hood of a this-century vehicle. Under my own hood, much is covered. Pry those open! Just throw out what I don’t recognize. I know dipsticks, where to pour windshield wash. After I throw out what I don’t recognize and I need my car, it won’t go. There’s the problem with “fixing” minus system-knowledge. About swamp, too. Now we call it “wetlands.” Most towns support wetlands protection. Why? Wetlands give value. They naturally improve water quality, give flood protection, help control shoreline erosion, and offer recreation and aesthetic opportunities. When I lived in upstate New York, on Lake Champlain, we recognized that the wetlands, starting with small aquatic insects, nourish shellfish and small fish that are food for and make way for larger fish.

Scary, Trump monkeying with our agencies that are as complex as beehives with occupants dedicated to niche-jobs / problem-solving. I remember my doctor-father’s upstate county health department. He was head of it, with nurses and inspectors going out to solve the problems. Health related, in my father’s agency’s workload. Looking at his office space from the outside, it was another business building with cars coming and going. Anything looked at from the outside only can’t give a true picture. We need Trump to learn a respect for agencies that evolved because of people’s needs.

Lynn Rudmin Chong

Sanbornton