TJ aka Teej
04-27-2003, 11:27
Maryland Tower Approved Despite ATC Concerns
With a new governor in place, the Maryland Board of Public Works — which also decides distribution of funds for state land acquisition — has approved a 180-foot communications tower beside the Appalachian Trail at Lambs Knoll, a 1,758-foot peak on South Mountain about 2.5 miles south of a major Civil War battlefield on the A.T. The tower, which would be visible as well from the Antietam battlefield to the west, would replace a lookout tower half that height on which several communications antennae already are mounted. The tower is intended to improve the state's emergency-communications network in central and western Maryland. Last August, the outgoing governor told his cabinet members to find another site because of the intrusion on the Trail environment, and the Federal Communications Commission said opponents' objections should be heard. ATC unsuccessfully sought consultations under an agreement among the Trail-management partners.
The board is composed of the governor, the state treasurer, and the state comptroller. Because of budget difficulties, it has been several years since it approved funds for A.T. lands the state agreed to acquire in Maryland, which has the highest proportion of unprotected footpath among the 14 Trail states.
April 21, 2003
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/trailnews/index.html
With a new governor in place, the Maryland Board of Public Works — which also decides distribution of funds for state land acquisition — has approved a 180-foot communications tower beside the Appalachian Trail at Lambs Knoll, a 1,758-foot peak on South Mountain about 2.5 miles south of a major Civil War battlefield on the A.T. The tower, which would be visible as well from the Antietam battlefield to the west, would replace a lookout tower half that height on which several communications antennae already are mounted. The tower is intended to improve the state's emergency-communications network in central and western Maryland. Last August, the outgoing governor told his cabinet members to find another site because of the intrusion on the Trail environment, and the Federal Communications Commission said opponents' objections should be heard. ATC unsuccessfully sought consultations under an agreement among the Trail-management partners.
The board is composed of the governor, the state treasurer, and the state comptroller. Because of budget difficulties, it has been several years since it approved funds for A.T. lands the state agreed to acquire in Maryland, which has the highest proportion of unprotected footpath among the 14 Trail states.
April 21, 2003
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/trailnews/index.html