To the Editor:
The birds in our yard totally dis-appeared when the intense widespread spraying of pesticides began in 1999 after the first case of the West Nile Virus was discovered in New York.
About three years after this particu-larly intense period of pesticide spraying, I started to see an occasional bird in our yard.  This summer, after eight long years, I am now finally seeing a more normal number of birds around our home.
Prior to 1999, we had so many blue jays that I was beginning to consider them a nuisance.  We had black-capped chicka-dees in our evergreens, nests of robins and cardinals, as well as bees and butterflies, but they all disappeared.  Our yard felt absolutely sterile.
The June 15^th, 2007, edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, "Audubon Society calls for quick action after finding stunning declines in 16 once common species over the past 40 years."
Our birds have been disappearing for a long time.  Yes, loss of habitat is a prob-lem, but I believe our use of pesticides is an even bigger problem.  According to wikipedia, pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950.  The slow decline in our bird population parallels our increased use of pesticides.
National news recently reported honeybees are disappearing, which is a direct threat to our food supply.  I believe our prolific use of pesticides and other chemicals we pour on our lawns and golf courses is the major cause of our disap-pering wildlife.
The more we use poisons in our en-vironment, the more wildlife disappears.  The black-capped chickadee has not re-turned to our yard yet, but I have hope that it will return again some day. 
Please use natural non-toxic means to control pesky bugs and weeds.
Mary Anderson
St. Paul, Minnesota

To the Editor:
Thanks for doing such a great job on our ads.  We love advertising with you.  I have a small request.  Could you please try to put our two ads on separate pages each month?  Lately it seems we've had our ads right on top of each other.  I hate to be a pest, but I would really appreciate it.  Thank you so much.
Laura O'Neill
Cornerstone Insurance Agency
Chaska, Minnesota

To the Editor:
Fantastic photos in the June Gazette from St. Victoria's Founders Day event.  Thank you so much for sharing them.
Jamie Moore
St. Victoria, Minnesota

To the Editor:
It is estimated that food waste and non-recyclable paper represent about 30% of the residential waste stream.  Recogniz-ing this fact, Carver County, armed with a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Con-trol Agency, has launched a demonstra-tion project whereby source-separated organics (food waste and non-recyclable paper) are collected together with yard waste and delivered to a yard waste com-posting facility for processing.
This is an innovative approach to diverting residential source-separated organics from the waste stream.  Approxi-mately 600 county households are placing their bagged source-separated organics in their yard waste cart where it is collected weekly and taken to the Arboretum's compost site for processing.
The bags used in the program are completely biodegradable and composted along with the collected materials.  Di-verting material away from landfills can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information about this project, please contact me at 952-361-1806 or mzbinden@co.carver.mn.us.
Marcus Zbinden
Carver Co. Environmental Services
Carver County, Minnesota