Logging Ain't What It Use To Be

On Monday night, I took my last college class and was able to draw a sigh of relief. It was so good to get it finished and concentrate on our Supreme Court Appeal for Spruce Mountain in Woodstock, Maine. For those who are not aware, here in Woodstock we have been working hard to get safe distance and sound concerns dealt with by the DEP and BEP. Both departments have disappointed us by allowing no hearings so that we could counter the projects estimations on their reports on sound, ect. Friends of Spruce Mountain, Inc. is dealing with the intrusion on Shagg Pond, Concord Pond, Little Concord Pond, Abbott Pond, Cushman Road and all residents that could and would be affected by the building of this project.

As it stands right now, we will be going to the Supreme Court and could use all the help we can get. We are planning a huge yard sale in the near future and invite you to "Come On Over" and check it out. I will post more information at a later date. Our main concern is that 6 of the 10 turbines will have to be reduce in production at night to meet the 45 dba sound reqirements. That was imposed on the project by the DEP sound experts. We are aware that at 35 dba humans are sensative to wind turbine noise. Who will monitor the sound and enforce the sound levels? The key is that will it be enforced and by Who? Will it just be fines paid for violations or literal enforcement to protect the people? How can a project sustain itself, when it can't run at full capacity?

Now, that is said, and here comes the fun. Tuesday morning, the Irish Logging Company, out of Peru, Maine, moved in on my side of the mountain. I listened to the buzz of the tree cutter all day. The next morning , bright and early, 6 am to be precise, it started up again. It will be 4 days now of the constant hum of machinery here in the valley. I much prefer the sound of the chain saw and the idol sound between cuttings, then to the constant sound of machinery. There are no breaks through the day. Just constant buzzing, tree de-limber, log trucks in and out. Things have definitely change in the logging world.

My summer will be filled with noise of machines. I won't be surprised if my garden has a tilt to it. All the plants growing away from the noise on the mountain. I understand that foresting needs to be done, but I am like that garden plant. My home is my roots and I don't or can't travel to far from my home. I live in the country to have the peace and quiet, yet, I never expected the noise to come to me. Reality, logging is noisy,and will go away. Wind turbines will not go away and will be a continual invasion of my peaceful home.  I hope that you can understand the importance of my life in this valley. I am the 4th generation and want this to be passed down to the 5th generation, Peace and harmony should be a part of everyone's life. It is that quiet spot at the end of a hectic day that brings me back to my roots and sanity.

I invite you to see the process that this valley is under, because if something isn't done, this state will become a waste land of mountain tops covered in wind turbines and towers. Please, stand up and protect the ways of Maine and its People.