To the Editor:

The Racquette River provides many benefits and recreational opportunities to the people of the North Country year-round, by being a very accessible natural resource.

Some things people use the river for are recreational. In the summer, residents like to canoe, fish, kayak and swim. In the winter, they like to go skiing, skating, and ice fishing. Many of these activities benefit local businesses. Also producing electricity is an important function of the Racquette River.

Residents and people traveling from outside the area take advantage of what the river has to offer. These visitors help local business. Local business owner Jeff Pignona says, “Interest in the Racquette River increases sales of kayaks and other outdoor sports equipment.”

Other people just enjoy sitting by the river and enjoying the wildlife and scenery. The natural beauty of the river provides artists and photographers with beautiful subjects for their art. “People express themselves creatively using natural resources” says artist Edward Schneider. Using the river for hydropower provides some residents with jobs and enhances the local economy.

“Environmentally, economically, and recreationally, the Racquette River is beneficial and useful to all” says Joe Randi of JA Randi Construction. Overall, the North Country community residents’ lives are enriched thanks to the Racquette River.

Heidi Visser

A.A.K. Middle School

Editor’s note: Heidi Visser is a seventh grader at A.A. Kingston Middle School in Potsdam who wrote this article as a homework assignment for a class with Corey Flynn.