Fighting for our land

I was just thinking about how life can change in just a moment. We’ve had more than a few of those moments in our lives over the years. On June 29, not quite one month ago, one of those life changing moments came when I checked our mail. An innocent looking letter that looked like another solicitation to choose a different electricity company was right on top. I almost threw it into the recycling. But instead I opened this letter and learned that a high voltage utility line project was being planned to run through our property. I was shocked. Completely blindsided.

The land this company wants to take from us is the land we intended to build cottages for our grown children to stay in when they come to visit, or to live in if they should choose to do so. The land they want is along a beautiful ridge and we’ve been talking for the last two years about clearing some trees so we could see the ridge from our home. The land they want would leave a section of land on the other side that could never be used for anything. Ever. And the company wants a perpetual lease – rights to our property forever and ever.

This. Is. Wrong.

For the last few weeks I’ve been on the phone with lawyers and state representatives. I’ve researched and learned more about electricity and power lines than I ever thought I’d know. I started a Facebook group to unite other landowners who are facing the loss of their land just like us and in less than two weeks the group has grown to over 600 members strong. I learned about eminent domain laws in our state and am beginning to learn the process of changing those laws. My family has rallied together, each person bringing their ideas, strengths, and encouragement.

These last weeks have been overwhelming.

I find myself going back and forth between wanting to just put our home on the market and run away from it all and deciding to devote every moment of my day to fighting this beast of a giant.

What was supposed to be a relaxing two week visit with our oldest daughter and grandchildren (with a bonus surprise visit from our oldest son), instead became me being completely distracted by this fight I never asked to be part of.

I have tried to keep this blog and website from having any political posts, but oh-my-goodness! I’m so angry! To think that everything we worked so hard for and everything we dream of can be taken away from us in just a moment.

We’re not the only ones who are facing the loss of our property. There are farmers whose fields and vegetables are directly in the path of these huge power lines. There are homesteads that have been built by people who choose to live off grid but will have 345,000 volts running 300 feet away from their front door. There are Amish farms in the path, beautiful landscapes, other properties who have already had land taken for a power line corridor and are now facing the loss of even more.

I don’t know that we’ll be able to stop this project, but I do know that I’m going to do everything I possibly can to save as much land in our state from the irreversible changes that come with perpetual easements and 130 foot tall high voltage power lines. And when I’m done fighting this battle I’ll move on to the next, because I’m told that several more projects just like this are planned, but the landowners along those routes don’t know it yet. I don’t want them to be blindsided like we were.