Jeff Tuttle’s article of April 24 discusses the conservation easement submitted as part of Widewaters’ new mitigation plan to the Department of Environmental Protection.

The easement is supposed to somehow help protect the Penjajawoc Marsh from the Wal-Mart Superstore that is proposed. It includes a one-acre recreational parking lot and a road giving the public unlimited access to the marsh. However, we need to be careful not to confuse access with conservation or protection.

This easement may serve as a quick fix to satisfy the public and appear to end the current dispute. It still does not address the main problem of building the Superstore with all of its trappings. In fact, by adding more asphalt and access for the public (and possibly for more development) we would actually be compounding the problem, making this a road to “nowhere special” instead of a road to the beautiful marsh that now exists.

Suzanne Kelly

Bangor