On Wednesday, June 30th, the Friends of the Highland Mountains held a press conference in the State of Maine Room at Portland City Hall. The purpose of the conference was to announce the release of our DVD, “Save the Mountains of Highland, Maine”.
In the DVD we outline some of the many negative impacts the proposed development will have on these unique mountains. After months of study and of consulting with experts from many fields, we believe that the plan to erect miles of 40 story turbines is a disaster in the making. The impacts range from environmental and ecological, to health-related, to economically devastating. Our quality of life and quality of place are at stake, and the consequences will be felt much farther away than the tiny plantation of Highland and its surrounding communities. The Appalachian Trail and the Bigelow Preserve are at our doorstep, as is the Arnold Trail and the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. These unique parks and trails are some of the last remaining wild places left east of the Mississippi, and the wonders experienced here are sought after by people the world over.
In the weeks since our press conference, we have been granted the opportunity to meet with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, and Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. We appreciate the fact that our U.S. delegation has given us an audience and listened to our concerns. We were able to leave factual written material and copies of our DVD, and we hope that they will heed our words.
We can use all the help we can get. If you would like to weigh in with our U.S. Congressional representatives, please email them at the addresses listed below. And if you, too, would like a free copy of our story, “Save the Mountains of Highland, Maine”, all you have to do is contact us at our email address, highlandmts@gmail.com.
http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorSnowe.Email