Heart of Light

With four co-sponsors, City Councilwoman Kathy Graziano's measure to place the James River Park System under a conservation easement seems assured of the passage it deserves.

The proposal would protect the riverfront from the ruinous change that snake-oil salesmen sometimes label "progress." Richmond's park system needs preservation, not plastic augmentation. Few cities in America can boast a natural resource on par with the James, whose attraction lies in its raw wildness. Disney-esque theme parks simply can't compare.

Conrad understood. In Heart of Darkness, he wrote of a malignant presence on the Congo River -- not the native inhabitants, but the Company that exploited them. The James is a ribbon of light; the river and its surroundings should remain unsullied by synthetic "improvements" that would only diminish them.