My dream became reality as I giddily put my signature to the final documents that gave me title to the prettiest 300 acres one could find.

Nestled around Lake Skinner and Bachelor Mountain, my dream project awaits only final county approval before I commence business operations.

I am building a 155-acre chicken ranch on my 311 acres. There will be facilities to raise 49 million chickens per day in 375 specially built hatcheries. My farm will be a boon to the local economy. Conservative estimates indicate that the sale of my chickens should bring in about $2 million a year in tax revenues, and jobs, jobs, jobs!

But it gets even better. Delivering my succulent chickens to market will give hundreds of independent truckers new work. We expect there will be about 1,400 truck trips daily along Rancho California Road, Winchester Road and up and down our highways. Our apologies to anybody with chicken feather allergies. It's not like it's a nuclear fallout cloud, dude, but we must get those chickens to market.

If you think I'm a goof, replace the words "chicken ranch" with "aggregate mine." Can you imagine the stink (pun intended) the community would create if somebody tried to put a 155-acre chicken ranch, capable of producing 9 million tons of chickens per year, smack in the middle of an ecological preserve? That is the aggregate (rock minerals) Liberty Quarry is going to mine from our valley. Switch airborne "chicken feathers" with airborne "silica particulates." Can you spell Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease? Cough, hack, hoooork!

I fully understand the arguments for the quarry; convenience of location to San Diego County, unproved health risks, tax revenues, jobs, jobs , jobs … all 200 new jobs that will go to normal Joes like me when hell freezes over … etc.

But I do not for a nanosecond believe that the supposed benefits of this proposed quarry will come close to negating the awful consequences of locating this quarry as proposed. The devastation to the quality of life in the surrounding countryside, natural lands and residential communities will be beyond imagination, and far beyond the trivial notions Liberty Quarry and its financially vested supporters would have us all believe.

I need not simply mimic the negatives, but I will anyway: The air pollution, noise, silica particulate fallout and truck traffic, but, mostly the destruction to the wetlands and surrounding natural lands will change the face of the surrounding countryside forever. Doubt this? In 20 years (likely less) the area would look like the south-east crosspoint of Interstate 15 and Magnolia Avenue. No, thank you.

I cannot for a moment imagine that people and politicians cannot see this rancid project for what it is. Perhaps instead, try to picture the clouds of chicken feathers emanating from the Lake Skinner preserve, and the stench that would rain down upon the valley for miles around.

Wrap your nose around that one, and you might get an idea about what we're facing.

ANDY McINTOSH writes from Temecula. Contact him at socalmcintosh@aol.com.