Forest sacrificed for nonexistent congestion

Dear editor,

Hundreds of acres of prime forest have been sacrificed along Route 903 in Carbon County for the so-called "903 interchange project." Supposedly this project is intended to "shorten the commute" and "ease congestion on local roads."

As a longtime resident of the area I have seldom seen more than a handful of cars at any time of the day or night on any of the local roads along this corridor. Where is the "congestion"?

Construction is occurring adjacent to Christmans Wetland and a number of other natural areas including Mud Swamp in Hickory Run State Park and Yellow Run in Weiser State Forest, all of which are listed in the Carbon County Natural Heritage Inventory as top priority natural areas.

Christmans Wetland is a locally significant site for the protection of biodiversity and an important headwater area for Stony Creek, an exceptional value trout stream.

Field studies show that roadside contaminants such as motor oil, salt, de-icing compounds and chemical herbicides are carried far from roads by wind and water into adjacent ecosystems where they contaminate streams and poison wildlife.

These ecological treasures will never be the same without the heavily forested buffers that protect them from invasive plants and animals and pollution from highway runoff. The noise, light and air pollution associated with a construction project of this magnitude could doom rare and endangered flora and fauna in these natural areas to death and possible extinction.

The loss of hundreds of acres of healthy forest cover and damage to irreplaceable ecological gems are a high price to pay so motorists can reach their destinations a few minutes faster without the inconvenience of traveling on local roads.

The project was scheduled for completion in the fall of 2014, and yet the scope of this project continues to grow, with more deforestation, more loss of habitat, more scarring of the land and no end in sight.

Eli Doberman

Lake Harmony