The article below appears in today's (May 28, 2011) Portland Press Herald . Kevin is a friend of mine-- a wonderful man I never would have met if it were not for our involvement in the effort to protect Maine's special regions from industrial wind development. Please read his fascinating and informative op-ed, and then consider writing to LURC, attention Fred Todd (fred.todd@maine.gov)to ask that they deny First Wind's permit for the Bowers mountain wind development. Consider speaking up at the Public Hearing at Lincoln High School on June 27 and 28 at 6 p.m. Every little bit helps. And those little bits add up.
Thank you.
Maine Voices: Downeast Lakes watershed needs protection
A forest of wind turbines would forever change the pristine woodland
into an industrial site.
SPRINGFIELD - It's not hunting season, but there's plenty of "shots"
being fired in the ongoing battle to save one of the state's most
historic and significant watersheds from irreparable and permanent
damage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Gurall of Springfield in Penobscot County is president of The
Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed
Their scenic character and wilderness setting is the lifeblood of the
traditional businesses in the entire Downeast Lakes watershed.
First Wind LLC of Boston is going through the LURC permitting process
right now to build an industrial wind turbine project that would
consist of 27 forty-three story tall turbines overshadowing such
pristine lakes as Pleasant, Scraggly, Junior, Lower Dobsi, Pocumcus,
West Grand and several others that total over 17,000 surface acres.
This watershed's significance goes back well over 100 years, to when
the state of Maine realized the value of what today is still the
purest strain of landlocked salmon anywhere in New England, and built
a hatchery in Grand Lake Stream in 1877.
This watershed hosts the highest per capita concentration of
registered Maine guides in the state. It also has the highest
concentration of Class 1A and 1B lakes in the state, which means they
are rated to be "of statewide or national significance" in the state's
Wildlands Lake Study.
It also hosts such storied lodges such as Weatherby's, Leen's, The
Pines, Grand Lake Lodge, as well as more than half a dozen others
throughout the watershed.
These lodges are unique not only because the likes of Calvin Coolidge,
Ted Williams, Norman Mailer, Jimmy Doolittle and Curt Gowdy frequented
them, but also because they cumulatively are one of the biggest
employers in the region.
The scenic impact assessment study submitted by First Wind says very
arrogantly, that the fishermen who come to this watershed can orient
themselves away from the turbines when they fish, or go fish in a cove
that hides you from that view. Can you believe the arrogance of this
Boston-based company!
People from literally around the globe have been coming to this
watershed for more than 100 years to vacation in an area that combines
the serene scenic character of a wilderness setting with some of the
best fishing the state has to offer.
They spend their hard-earned vacation time and money on gas, food,
lodging, license fees, and much more to be able to sit in the front
end of a guide's Grand Laker canoe and take in the very best that
mother nature has to offer.
But all that will end if this project gets approved by LURC. Sportsmen
are going to be a lot less likely to fly or drive 10-12 hours to come
fish and enjoy themselves in the shadow of an industrial energy site
-- chances are they can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars by
staying much closer to home if they don't mind recreating in an
industrial environment!
If this subject interests you, please submit written testimony to LURC
denouncing the Bowers Mountain project, or come to the LURC public
hearings at the Lincoln High School on June 27 and 28 at 6 p.m. Anyone
can speak at these public hearings.
Save the Downeast lakes! Say "no" to the Bowers Mountain project and
others like it.
****************************
Photos courtesy of The Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed.
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