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I must challenge claims in Alex Titcomb’s letter published Feb. 24, “NECEC won’t tarnish Maine’s woods.” It appears Alex’s exposure to the proposed corridor zone is limited to Route 201, an existing corridor bisecting the industrial timberlands of Somerset County.
Unlike the swath of internationally-shared wilderness NECEC would permanently bisect, these forests are regenerated to protect the long-term investments of big landowners. Unlike NECEC, these forests provide permanent jobs for thousands of Mainers.
Perhaps, Alex is unaware the true goal of NECEC is corridor status, from Lac Megantic to the Sheepscot River in Wiscasset. Does he realize the only industrial infrastructure in the proposed corridor zone is an international railroad? Can he visualize the territory from Quebec’s Chaudiere-Appalaches wilderness, through the wildly remote Moose River Basin, to the Dead River and the Upper Kennebec River Gorge?