Foolhardy wind plan forced on township

To the Editor

Highland Wind LLC will be resubmitting a permit application to LURC requesting approval to construct a grid-scale industrial wind turbine complex consisting of 48 turbines stretched across eight miles of mountains in Highland Plantation.

This rural community stands at the gateway to the Appalachian Trail, Arnold Trail and the Bigelow Preserve. I can’t state strongly enough the negative impacts such a development would have on this region. Many of the residents in the area depend on the tourism trade to make a living; hikers of the AT, hunters in our forests and on our hills, fishermen, snowmobilers and outdoor enthusiasts in general. Other incomes depend on the real estate market and the housing industry — keeping bankers, appraisers and builders employed.

We make our home in this region, and yet I wasn’t given the opportunity to have a say in whether or not industrial wind should be placed on the mountains around our home. I’ve done my research, and I believe that the negative impacts caused by wind turbines littering our mountaintops will far outweigh the negligible benefits they are alleged to provide. I invite those who have not had the chance to give this broad-reaching plan some serious contemplation to check out www.highlandmts.org. If this website can’t answer your questions, it will point you to others which will.

Knowledge is power, and in America power is supposed to rest with “We the People.” I urge you to listen to the science and do the math. Once the facts become known, people will understand what a foolhardy plan the Governor and our Legislature have put into motion.

Audrey Kalloch

Carrying Place Town Twp, Maine