Dear Editor:

For those who may not be aware, a hearing is taking place on July 27 at the Maine Division of Marine Resources office in West Boothbay Harbor to consider a 6-acre oyster farm lease application positioned at the entrance to Pleasant Cove 

While the fundamental threat to recreational use of Pleasant Cove is bad enough, there is an even more insidious element to this proposal – one that should be a cause of concern to all Mainers who love and enjoy our coastal resources. The undersigned are landowners who have their waterfront properties entered into conservation easements with the Town of Boothbay and/or the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust.  In our easement agreements with the town, the primary benefit cited by the town for its citizens is “the preservation of open space and scenic values of the Damariscotta River.”  In that pursuit, we have agreed, by contract, not to develop or build on the conserved land, including any new docks or other structures.  We love Pleasant Cove, so this has been a happy concession -- until now.

 In the very few instances that the DMR has ever denied a lease application (other than for technicalities), it is because the site would seriously impede access to a local dock.  The applicant for the Pleasant Cove oyster farm lease specifically cited the limited number of docks in the area as the primary appeal of the site.  In other words, the covenants we have with the town not to build docks on our properties have created a perverse incentive to install acres of floating black plastic directly in front of the conservation land.

We believe it’s the responsibility of DMR, the Town of Boothbay, and the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust to address this unacceptable outcome.  If these entities don’t take any action to defend conservation agreements to protect the waters, why would any future landowner ever choose to put his or her property in conservation?  Meanwhile, we are troubled to discover that our existing conservation easements are attracting enormous black plastic aquaculture sites, forever altering the beauty and curtailing the recreational use of Pleasant Cove.  We urge all concerned Boothbay citizens to attend the July 27 hearing.

Drew and Erica Peck

Boothbay

Susan and David Wilson

Boothbay