Having been born and raised in the truly special state of Maine, I admit to perhaps taking the beauty of trees for granted. At least I did until the Maine Department of Transportation decided that for our safety — increasing visibility — they needed to clear cut the trees around the Interstate 95 exits in the Waterville and Augusta areas (“With eye on safety, Maine DOT clearing trees near I-95 exits,” June 21).
What was once a spectacular tree-lined area now looks like a war zone — utter devastation. How did we let this happen? Why didn’t we have any say in how this $500,000 was spent?
The DOT calls it their “vegetation management plan” and that they are “in the middle of a multi-year timetable to control roadside vegetation”, making it safe to presume this clear-cutting will continue in the years to come. Unfortunately, the end result will make Maine not all that special after all.
Cindy Sturtevant
Oakland
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.