Old timber not unique

I have read numerous articles in the BDN about the 220-acre area of old timber near Big Wilson Stream in Elliotsville Township that is owned by Plum Creek Timber Co. In the July 25 BDN, Kevin Miller writes about the issue of protecting versus harvesting this area and notes that the Appalachian Mountain Club and Roxanne Quimby own large tracts of land in the vicinity.

What I have found very curious in these accounts is not even the slightest mention of the fact that, next to the Plum Creek parcel, more than 100 acres of this same forest area, with the same kind of stocking of huge old trees, has been preserved for all time in the Appalachian National Scenic Trail corridor, owned by the U.S. National Park Service and managed by the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. I have no quarrel with those who wish to add the 220 acres to a preserved area, but it is misleading to suggest that the 220 acres is “unique” and that none of this forest has been protected.

David B. Field

Hampden