Green Ground Rules

Published in the Blue Stone Press, 12/7/2007

To the Editor:

I believe that there is much common ground in our community as evinced by a tremendous turnout of people at the "Preserving Your Land" conference on Nov. 10th at UCCC.

We all want to protect our beautiful town while striving to keep a sound economy. We all want to see affordable housing while preserving our historic town with its natural resources. And though there are many shades of “green” I think we have all come to believe that saving our farms is one common goal. Once a farm is gone, it doesn’t come back. And if we can support and attract more farmers to live and work in our community, we all benefit.

As Peter Hauspurg acknowledged in his recent letter to the BSP, the Stone Ridge Orchard is not suitable for living without extensive and expensive remediation. But as an orchard, the farm can continue to produce while the soils are improved. So let us endeavor to save the farm, while exploring the surrounds for some sensitive, green growth. The entrepreneurs and green technology individuals are essential to our town, but let’s share this one green ground rule: Save the farms!

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