STOP Destroying the ONLY mid-SW NH interior to Conn River corridor of "Highest Ranked Wildlife Habitat" & The Cheshire Rail Trail!

New Hampshire's ECONOMY and VITALITY relies heavily on people valuing its Environment & Wildlife in order to keep both its working youth from leaving and drawing tourists in (Dept of Revenue Administration - Are you paying attention?)

Per the North East State Foresters Association's report "The Economic Importance of New Hampshire's Forest-Based Economy 2013", annual value of sales and output of New Hampshire's forest products industry totals $1.4 billion. Annual value of sales of New Hampshire's forest based recreation economy also totals $1.4 billion. Fall foliage viewing is the number one contributor followed IN ORDER by wildlife watching, downhill skiing, camping, hiking, snowmobiling, hunting, and cross-country skiing.

Protecting and making the Environment & Wildlife accessible to both residents and tourists alike via NON-MOTORIZED state-wide Trail systems which provide the PEACE & QUIET necessary to enjoy MOST of these recreational activities is CRITICAL to achieving these goals.

The Planning Board of this tiny southwestern NH Cheshire County town of Westmoreland, which has control over miles of frontage on the mighty Connecticut River, is on the verge of allowing the ONLY interior Uplands to Connecticut River corridor of "Highest Ranked Wildlife Habitat" along a 70 mile stretch of the Connecticut River to be further destroyed FOREVER (see full state Habitat map - note 1 below) by a non-resident family company, which has been known to repeatedly degrade the environment (see Keene Sentinel article - note 2) and the Rail-Trail/infrastructure already (see photo and RR map - note 3), and all so this private family can acquire wealth from common construction aggregate and gravel, which requires not just clear-cutting this important FOREST habitat for quarrying but then continuous cycles of noisy, UN-WILDLIFE FRIENDLY drilling, blasting, loading, crushing, and trucking of rock as well - total annihilation of all life on this land - for decades to come!!

Help us let the Westmoreland Planning Board KNOW by March 10th, and even beyond, as it deliberates its decision, that you DISAPPROVE of this senseless and irrational destruction of critical "NH Highest Ranked Wildlife Habitat", the Connecticut River Stratified Drift Aquifer, which lies below and downslope from the proposed quarry site and the state, and therefore PUBLICLY-owned, Cheshire Rail-Trail (see aquifer map - note 4), and the private family company's two IMPROPERLY and FRAUDULENTLY obtained Rail-Trail crossing cuts/permits (see permits - note 5) which violate truly Historic property deeds involving railroad/now STATE=PUBLIC lands (see short deed and photo - note 6) in order to access the proposed quarry site (and we'll be letting the NHDOT Bureau of Rail & Transit and DRED Bureau of Trails, who manage the trails for the PUBLIC, know too!!...).

UPDATE: SEE new petition regarding the 2 FRAUDULENT Rail Trail contracts for the since WRONGFULLY permitted Quarry at  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/314/876/815/

Although the number of sightings does seem to have declined some in recent years, and likely due to the un-managed development around us, we, the petitioners, have enjoyed seeing and/or hearing bear, deer, badgers, spotted salamanders, tree frogs, brook trout, bats, a large variety of birds, eg owls, various woodpeckers, turkeys, ruffed grouse, turkey vultures, cardinals, hummingbirds, scarlet tanagers, hawks, flickers, the usual myriad of finches, grosbeaks, creepers, chickadees, juncos and bluebirds, as well as having majestic bald eagles sitting in our trees from time to time (still looking for those photos, but it will be forever etched in our minds how one massive eagle swooped up our driveway at window height...), and we are fighting hard to keep it that way, for EVERYONE, residents and Rail-Trail users alike, to enjoy, for generations to come, by stopping its now almost inevitable destruction...

WE live by the motto - "Let the Truth Prevail" - Can, or rather, WILL you DECIDE to, too?

From lovers of the land, the river, the wildlife, and the right to fight what is wrong...

Patricia Rodrigues & John Corduff, Westmoreland, NH

Do not hesitate to contact us for more information at patrod@email.com

Note 1 - see full state Habitat map at https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/8922b4ff-6a09-4f25-9e35-b78e88a7831f ) 

Note 2 - see The Keene Sentinel article at  http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/sand-gravel-pit-owner-cited-during-course-of-westmoreland-quarry/article_d7415811-a4bb-5ebf-a545-cd44e3534451.html   

Note 3 - see labeled Rail-Trail photo and labeled RR map at  https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/62deaca7-9872-4df0-881c-9dd5ad0579d9 and https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/2d357f65-2193-43b5-90bd-bb0b0574bacd

Note 4 - see aquifer map at https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/f1179642-ddd9-4749-9a14-fab52d90a56c 

Note 5 - you need to download in order to read the important 'Comments' on the 2 annotated Permit Agreement pdfs at  https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/e67e72d9-931a-4b57-8016-d1dab7f2c49 and https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/d3bbc181-cd20-47f5-8fd1-7ef0d8a9a537  

[***BE SURE to make the CONNECTIONS about  CONTRADICTIONS/FALSIFICATIONS between these 2 AGREEMENTS' 2 MAPS, and NOTE 3 ABOVE and NOTE 6 BELOW!!***]

Note 6 - see short 1848 deed and photo at  https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/6d1d7292-7e63-4e8e-b0d7-cbf95afc261a and https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/aeac0f4e-4329-4666-94b7-9ac4a1f564ab