Lincoln Journal
Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Letter: Arizona site a shining example

To the editor:

For a shining example of what ought to happen when the National Trust for Historic Preservation designates a site as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, as it has done for our historic area, we need only look at the Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary Zone in New Mexico.

The Salt Lake area, sacred to six Native American tribes, was threatened by a proposed coal mine. Now, just weeks after the designation, the site has been saved. The Arizona utility that was promoting this project has announced that it will purchase coal elsewhere, instead of mining it in a sacred place.

Of course, the Trust didn't accomplish this result by itself -- indeed, the Trust doesn't get involved with a site unless strong local preservation efforts are already in place. At Zuni Salt Lake, as here, local opponents -- a coalition of Native American and environmental groups -- had been fighting the project for many years. But it is clear that the Trust's recent involvement played a significant role in the utility's abrupt change of plans.

And what happens here? Massport not only refuses to reconsider its plans, but ratchets them up with its invitation to FedEx. And it not only refuses to consider the Trust's concerns, but heaps scorn on them, and viciously attacks the integrity and judgment of the Trust itself.

We urge Massport to follow the lead of the Arizona utility and do the right thing -- and not only by telling FedEx that Hanscom is not an appropriate facility for heavy cargo operations, which should go without saying. We challenge Massport to sit down at the negotiating table with all stakeholders, including the National Trust, and work out a genuine agreement that will keep Hanscom's operations permanently in balance with the sensitive historic and natural sites that surround it.

Anna Winter
Executive Director
Save Our Heritage

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