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Oh! Pine Tree State: Wither Hast thou Gone?
I want to preface this article by saying that I am not a political, ecological, activist. I do my part: I drive an economy car, keep my thermostat down, put curly bulbs in all my lamps, reduce, re-use, and recycle. But, I feel ccompelled to write this because no one seems to care about the wanton destruction of the forest and trees in what is supposed to be, ‘The Pine Tree State.’
I grew up in York Beach in the 1960′s and have lived in the seacoast nearly my entire life. One of the things that my friends and I liked to do best, was play in the woods. There were forests everywhere: behind our elementary school (then on Main Street in York Beach), all along Ridge Road, throughout Cape Neddick. One house I lived in on Route 1 was surrounded by deep woods on three sides. I can’t count the number of hours each day that I spent in those woods.
As a teenager, living in York Beach, I often walked to the Junior High and High School on Organug Road via Ridge Road, perhaps the most beautiful road in the town, lined on both sides by thick woods. In the fall, with the changing of the leaves, it was a breath-taking sight, particularly at the approach to Long Sands Rd where it made a canopy right across the road. It’s gone now. Torn down to put up the ugliest McMansions I have ever seen. I went away in the 1990′s following a job offer. When I returned in 2005, I was devastated by what had happened to the beautiful towns of York and Kittery.
In a state that has been so insistent on saving marshlands, and wetlands, we wood- walkers are now confined to State Parks, or Rachel Carson Preserves, and the only reason we can do that is because they also contain marshes. Why did we allow the wanton destruction of the forests in Southern Maine for the purpose of satisfying the needs of real estate developers who had to make more room for businesses we don’t need and people from out-of-state, and who have changed the face of this area irreparably? On Route 1 about three years ago, in the lot next to the York Antiques Gallery, the woods were destroyed and the hill was blasted away to make room for an office park, which still stands mostly un-rented. No outrage. No complaints. Why?
The latest scourge on the forest recently occurred in the Yankee Commons mobile home park in Kittery. A Canadian company, the Hynes Group of Vancouver, which owns the park decided to profit on the sale its diseased and dead wood. At least that was the official story. They were only going to cut down the diseased and dead trees which were clearly marked with a big orange X. They didn’t stop there, though. Instead they decimated the park and the forest, cutting down hundreds of trees in areas that had previously just been deep woods. Why doesn’t anybody care except the residents of the park? Where are the ecologists, when a company is allowed to perpetrate the wanton destruction of healthy trees, and completely eradicate a forest area? What about the natives of these woods? The deer, the squirrels, the rabbits, chipmunks, foxes and birds that made their home there? Where is the outrage?
Yankee Commons was once a beautiful example of what a mobile home park should be. Beautiful homes, manicured lawns, lots of shade, thick woods that allowed both privacy and tranquility. Now, it looks like a scene from some apocalyptic B-movie. There is no shade. No privacy. Where there had once been a wooded area, there is now a handful of trees. But, that is not the worst of it. They left the stumps, some of them ten feet high, just standing there as a bitter reminder of what used to be there.
The part of the park that was just woods and contained no homes, were perfect for taking walks in the woods, hunting, exploring, snowmobiling, and bird watching. Now, its all gone. You can see all the way through it, they removed so many trees. One day, the residents went to bed in their beautiful wooded park, and the next day, were awakened by the sounds of chain saws, and bull dozers. For more than a week, the residents watched as they not only cut down trees, but bulldozed them down. I stood and watched as they bulldozed trees in between homes, without any regard for where the tree might fall or who might be walking around out there. They just knocked them down. Then they left the felled trees right where they were for several weeks, before finally coming in and cutting them up into ten foot logs, and hauling them away on logging trucks. I don’t know the exact number of truckloads they took out of there, but I would say upwards of twenty, maybe even thirty. While visiting my Son’s house, I saw four trucks, leaving in two hours. It went on for days.
I am a firm believer in the sanctity of private property,and certainly I don’t want to have to get a permit to cut down a dead tree in my yard, but just as we put limits on people who buy and sell marshland, limits need to be set on the amount of forest land that can be destroyed to make room for developments, office parks, and new homes. It is not necessary to eradicate an entire wood for the sake of a new home or office building. Certainly, in the case of Ridge Road, was it really necessary to cut down the beautiful hardwoods that lined the road? Was it really necessary for the owners of Yankee Commons to rip out three of every four trees, for the purpose of selling wood?
When are we going to do something to protect our forests? They are every bit as important as wetlands. They are home to thousands of animals and birds. More importantly, they are essential to our children who have a right to appreciate the beauty and tranquility that only a walk through the woods can give them. If we really want to use the slogan, “The Way Life Should Be” then we should probably stop destroying the most important part of our heritage: Our Forests
About the Author
Michele Keith is a freelance writer. She majored in English and History. She has also studied Biology, Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Forensic Science. She has worked as a Professional Stage Manager and a Pharmacy Technician. She lives in Maine and is currently working on her first book.
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