The Feb. 24 article on a hut-and-trail system suggests that this could be a boon to the state, but it is just as likely to be a boondoggle. Larry Warren suggests that his plan is economic development. For whom? Certainly it’s not for the four seasonal employees of each hut. Warren’s plan to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on large luxury lodges will doom the development to financial ruin. The Bigelow Preserve should remain free from such a fate.

Some people are trying to bring tourists from the coast of Maine to the interior, but Friends of Bigelow hope they don’t. The Bigelow Preserve already saw 15,786 users last year. Any increase in unprepared or inexperienced users will stress the natural resource.

Warren should reconsider the scale and location of his huts. A trail that does not penetrate remote backcountry is possible.

Richard Fecteau

Chairman, Friends of Bigelow

Farmington