EDITOR'S NOTE: The following letter appeared on a Spotlight Page paid for by the writer in the Feb. 24 to March 2 edition of North Country This Week.

To the Editor:

For the last 30 years, my husband and I have operated an organic dairy farm outside of the Village of Canton, raising our five children in an industry that, despite its hardships, has been very rewarding.

We are one of the landowners invited to participate in the Rich Road Solar Project. I write this letter to the community in response to a recently published letter in opposition to the Solar Project.

I hope to ease some of the thoughtful concerns raised by the author.

First, I can proudly say there should be no concern about any loss of agricultural land by the new solar arrays.

The land upon which my family has farmed organic dairy cows for the last three decades will be converted to sheep farming. EDF Renewables (EDF), the company working on this porject, has asked us to operate a sheep farm to keep down the grass and weeds around the panels and keep the land neat without heavy machinery.

Clean Electricity

Instead of being used as pastureland for cows, corn, and hay fields, the land upon which the panels will be built will now be used to generate clean electricity from the sun’s rays while continuing the agricultural nature of the land as we have known it for decades.

The sheep will be grazing to produce dairy, meat, or wool. The flora in and around the panels will be home to birds that can nest undisturbed and sustain bees and other natural wildlife.

The second concern raised by the author is the possible loss of natural habitats. I raised this concern when EDF first approached us, and EDF has put our own wildlife concerns at ease. Like the author of the letter, we, too love the animals who live in the woods and fields around our farm. In no way do we wish to disturb their homes.

EDF has assured us that while there will be some tree clearing, the majority of our forested land will not be cut. EDF is currently in the midst of a rigorous environmental safety review to limit any disruption to the wildlife in the area.

Once the solar panels are built, these animals, who previously may have been displaced by modern farming, will be able to make their homes in what had otherwise been cornfields, hayfields, and the like, in and on land undisturbed by a modern technology.

For the last few years, we have worked with bird watchers, archaeologists, wetland protectors, and more to be sure the strict state and federal regulations put in place to protect wildlife have been met.

Every piece of wetland has been observed, recorded, and New York and Federal regulations will be strictly followed.

Within this project, EDF will be required to do more to protect the wetlands than it is required of agricultural use.

While the author has suggested the project will place the upper and lower lakes at risk, no such risk exists as this project is nowhere near these bodies of water. The maps, that have been attached to the author’s petitions are misleading.

The map shows only the land that EDF currently leases. It does not clearly show where the panels will be located since the result of the environmental evaluation still determines that.

Beneficial Economic Impact

If this is not enough to persuade you of the positive environmental impact, let me tell you about the positive financial impact this will have on the community as a whole.

EDF projects that the Town of Canton, Canton Central School, and St. Lawrence County can expect a much larger tax revenue increase from this project compared to what had been previously collected from agriculture use alone.

This means more funding for teachers, textbooks, after school programs; more revenue for Canton’s revitalization; and more revenue for the County. The ripple effect of this project’s tax revenue will broadly impact our entire community.

Finally, New York State, St. Lawrence County, and the Town of Canton have all required a decommissioning plan as part of the project. By law, when the solar farm ends, the entire solar array must be removed from the land, and the land will be seeded back to its pre-project state.

The costs of the decommissioning will be the responsibility of the solar company.

To suggest that this solar farm is a new form of colonialism is an unhelpful statement that, detracting from a factual analysis, stirs negative emotions in opposition to a more sustainable, green energy future.

Andrea and Felix Huber are dairy farmers and own land where part of the Rich Road Solar Project would be located.