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An ill wind for our public lands
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For more than a decade now, my family, friends and I have been traveling from Baltimore and from as far away as Pittsburgh to enjoy the natural beauty of our Appalachian forests in Western Maryland.
We have spent much time and money in and around Garrett County, and greatly prize the opportunity to still find pristine, unspoiled old-growth forests so near to home.
Thus, it was with great dismay that I read about the wind farms proposed for some of Maryland’s most striking landscapes (“State forests sought for wind farms,” Dec. 6).
While I am well aware of Maryland’s energy needs and the importance of cleaner energy sources, the minimal energy gain these wind farms would provide would not outweigh the tragedy of the destruction of some of the most impressive land in Maryland for the benefit of out-of-state, private, for-profit companies.
I sincerely hope Gov. Martin O’Malley, the Board of Public Works and the Department of Natural Resources won’t sell out our public lands.
Sean Hall
Baltimore
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Wait a minute. Did I read this right? In Thursday morning’s Sun, there was an article about a Pennsylvania-based company that wants to lease 400 acres of state forests for wind farms.
Yet in another paper that same morning, I read a blurb about the Maryland and Virginia governors pledging to save thousands of acres of forests to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
And didn’t then-gubernatorial candidate Martin O’Malley blast the Ehrlich administration for trying to sell off state forests to politically connected developers?
State forests, parks and wildlife sanctuaries are for the public – not to be used for private, out-of-state companies to reap windfall profits (pun intended).
Instead of putting these industrial machines in Western Maryland, why not put them closer to where most of their potential customers are?
I suggest putting some windmills on Oregon Ridge or Federal Hill.
Stephen G. Gunnulfsen
Laytonsville
8 December 2007
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