Stetson Mountain Wind Farm

John Baldacci, Governor of Maine, was at the opening of the Stetson Wind Farm just outside Danforth. The great and the good of the area were there, along with community members, or so the news blurb said.

Hubby and I thought we should go along, take some photos and see the wind turbines up close. There is one spot along the road going to the site where several of the wind turbines are visible. They look majestic, slowly turning above the trees, backdropped by the sky.

When we arrived at the site entrance, we were told we could not go up the mountain as we 'were not on the list'. We had heard about the opening on MPBN, Maine public radio and I had searched on the internet for the time, but no-one mentioned it was by invite or list only. We were shocked that this was the case as only a handful of community reisdents would go anyway, and what did they think? Someone might try and do something funny?

Well, the best bit was a group of protesters who felt that the whole scheme had been pushed through by the Governor without any public vote or discussion. There were seven people with placards from Lincoln - a very interesting group who are concerned about another proposed site around the Lincoln lakes that would ruin the scenery for all there. At least the Stetson farm was out away from any town, so the noise and lights would not be disturbing like the Mars Hill farm iss to residents.

So we stayed and chatted with the protesters and took pictures of them and their placards for about half an hour. We were cold by then so came home. I will be writing to the Governor to express my displeasure about not being allowed up the mountain today. will be keen to see how he responds (or whoever responds on his behalf).