Call it a land grab

I spoke at the Farmington meeting in opposition to the proposals of the Land Acquisition Priorities Advisory Committee. I object strongly to the statement by Mark DesMeules after the Machias meeting (BDN, Sept. 20) that comments at the Farmington meeting were generally supportive of the proposals. There was a lot of favorable comment, but what would you expect? Most meetings were held at liberal arts colleges, and environmental groups like the Northern Forest Alliance made a big effort to get members to attend.

Contrary to what DesMeules indicates, there was also considerable opposition. A number of people voiced concerns similar to those opponents quoted at the Machias meeting. Rep. Priscilla Lane and the speaker who followed her both spoke in strong opposition, and were the first to get applause, so somebody obviously agreed with them.

I challenge the committee to state the estimated total cost of the propoals, $45 million, is only a start on a small fraction of what they propose. I also stated that it wasn’t land for Maine’s future, but was a land grab, an erosion of private property, restricted use of the land and a tax burden and debt for Maine’s future. Doesn’t sound like favorable testimony, does it?

DesMeules seems to feel opinions different from his aren’t even worth mentioning. As state coordinator for the Land for Maine’s Future, big land acquisition would be job security for him. Perhaps that contributed to his selective memory of the Farmington hearing. The opposition to these proposals is not confined to the north, and the more the facts become known, the greater the opposition will be. David Grush North Jay