This gallery of recent pictures from the Boardman River valley shows the quiet, subtle beauty that the proposed Hartman-Hammond road and bridge project would ruin. The valley is rife with wetlands - some of them regionally rare Northern White Cedar swamp that simply cannot be "mitigated" or replaced elsewhere. The valley is also home to red-shouldered hawks, bald eagles, and the very rare massasauga rattler. The river itself is a Blue Ribbon trout stream thanks to its cold, clear waters, which, further upstream, are protected by a state Natural Rivers designation. It supplies 30 percent of Grand Traverse Bay's fresh water. Thanks to state funding approved in May, the valley will also host an expanded county park that will stretch for four miles along the river, complete with an extensive trail system.