Preservationist intrusion

The Home Forum essay " 'Preserving' Maine's Woods," Aug. 30, touches a sensitive spot in me. As a longtime landowner, I am extremely sensitive to the preservationist movement, which I see as simply an attempt by people who do not wish to buy land not only to use mine free of charge and without my permission, but also to tell me what I can and cannot do with it.It is increasingly difficult to justify my investment in land to grow trees due to the laws governing how I may use my land. Setbacks from streams, lakes, and wetlands and the removal of some land permanently from harvesting make it necessary that the land that is left carry the burden of these, by law, nonproductive (in a monetary sense) lands. I have always revered my land, intending it to be inherited by my children and grandchildren, and have spent half my life educating them to respect the land and use it for its economic value. I can do a better job on my land than can some person in Washington or New York who doesn't know the first thing about it. D. Bradley, Plainfield, N.H.

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