ASHLAND, Maine — A subsidiary of First Wind that already has three wind farms in Maine and two other applications pending is seeking to erect a series of test poles in a remote area of Maine’s Unorganized Territory.

First Wind subsidiary King Pine Wind LLC filed applications with the Land Use Regulation Commission last month for the 13 test poles, each of which would be fitted with a meteorological device that collects wind data over a period of time.

Billie J. MacLean, who is LURC’s regional representative out of Ashland, said King Pine Wind’s applications generally follow the Route 11 corridor between the Aroostook County towns of Ashland and Patten. According to LURC documents, the applications are for towers in T6 R6, T7 R6, T7 R5, T8 R5, Dudley Township and St. Croix Township.

First Wind spokesman John Lamontagne said the intent of the applications is to allow for testing of wind strength in the area.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean these locations are suitable for a wind project,” said Lamontagne. “If we receive permits, we hope to test the wind speed in those locations.”

MacLean said all but one of the towers would be shorter than 200 feet — though in many cases by only a few feet. One tower would exceed 200 feet and require warning lights for passing aircraft. The towers would be made of 8-inch tubular poles supported by guy wires and anchors in the ground. The towers in general require the clearing of 3 to 4 acres of forest, though MacLean said some of them would be located in existing clear cuts if the applications are successful. The LURC permits would be valid for up to seven years.

The towers would be installed on land owned by Aroostook Timberlands, which is a subsidiary of Irving Woodlands LLC. According to MacLean, First Wind has memoranda of agreement with Irving for the new test sites. First Wind already has a permit to erect a 34-turbine wind farm in Oakfield, which is in the general area of the proposed test sites, though Lamontagne said First Wind has reapplied to build that project on a larger scale.

First Wind subsidiaries already operate wind farms in Mars Hill, at the Stetson project near Danforth and on Rollins Mountain near Lincoln. In the next couple of months, LURC is scheduled to give final consideration to First Wind applications for wind farms near Eastbrook, which is known as the Bull Hill project, and the Bowers Mountain project near Lee.

MacLean said King Pine Wind’s test pole applications have been reviewed by state agencies and have been posted on LURC’s website since last month, but that so far there have been no comments from the general public. Because of the simplicity of the applications, they do not require approval from the LURC board itself but are reviewed by staff, in this case MacLean, according to LURC Director Catherine Carroll.

“The applications are being processed right now,” said Carroll.

Lamontagne said he expects the test poles, which likely would be installed by the end of the year if permits are granted, will collect years’ worth of data before decisions are made about new wind farms.

“Aroostook County has been very supportive of wind,” said Lamontagne. “It’s a good place to do business.”

Following NRCM’s recent rally at the Hall of Flags protesting that the LePage administration was about to destroy 40 years of good stewardship of the land, its new executive director, Lisa Pohlman, wrote an essay on its website suggesting that Mainers write a letter to the governor telling him why they love their state and what they would want to see done to help protect it. So this is my story.

There was once a beautiful region that became slowly engulfed by a glacial sheet 25,000 years ago. The advancing glacier created striations in the bedrock, shaped mountains and formed open bowl-shaped features called cirques. Where the highland above the cirques was narrow, thin ridges called aretes were produced, a good example being the Knife Edge on Mount Katahdin.

Then, about 18,000 years ago, in response to a warming climate, the glacier receded, reshaping the river valleys of the region that would become our beautiful state. From north to south and east to west, a most intricate landscape was created, with miles upon miles of soft ridges inhabited by a wide diversity of trees and animals.

By 2020, what millennia of nature’s work had created will have been destroyed. Within 10 years, earth movers will have blasted the mountain tops into submission and giant cranes will have spread thousands of steel towers with arm-waving blades, covering the entire mountain landscape so patiently designed by the powerful forces of nature.

From the top of beautiful Knife Edge to the western mountains, from the magical glacier pond of Tumbledown Mountain to the Down East lake watershed, from the River Valley area mountains surrounding the majestic Androscoggin River and Roxbury Pond to Mars Hill, from the hills of Freedom and Vinalhaven to the Lincoln Lakes area, the only thing the eye will see will be steel towers covering the mountains, governed by central operating control centers far away from the mountains.

With the stroke of a pen, an uninformed governor named John Baldacci sacrificed the natural art work that millions of individuals had grown to love. Maine’s landscape was destroyed because of a bill called LD 2283 which sacrificed an entire state to the wind industry.

Gov. Percival Baxter once wrote about Mount Katahdin, “It stands above the plain unique in grandeur and glory.” We miss you, Gov. Baxter. You were a far cry from Gov. Baldacci who signed the law that would destroy your legacy. That is my story.

What can you do? You can disassociate yourself from the people who made a pact with the devil and allowed this to happen.

Please stop your support for NRCM, the organization which pushed hard for this disaster to happen. If you do, maybe some of Maine’s mountains can be saved. Or at least let them know how misguided they have been.

But there is a strange twist to my story. I actually posted it on Lisa Puhlman’s blog on the NRCM website, along with two other individuals who were upset at NRCM’s deep hypocrisy. The three stories stayed for two days, then were deleted .

How bad is an organization that does not accept criticism? As bad as the government it has helped to destroy our state.

Please go to windtaskforce.org and look at the disaster NRCM has endorsed.

Monique Aniel, MD, co-chairs the Citizens Task Force on Wind Power. She lives in Oquossoc.