Highland wind power not worth the price

Highland wind power not worth the price

Editor, The Recorder,

My family roots run deeply into Highland County and surrounding environs and my genealogical research reveals my kinship to most of the oldest families in Highland. I am related to those of you on both sides of the "windmill" controversy.

I don't have a right to an economic opinion as a non-resident but I can tell you how I feel.

I was never impressed with the association of Highland County to Switzerland because Highland is its own place. Switzerland doesn't have anything like it. Highland is more beautiful.

The remote location of Highland County is unique and indeed I describe it to everyone that will listen in these words: "If there really was a Garden of Eden, God got the idea in Highland County, Virginia." I intend no irrevrence.

The ancestral families that have maintained stewardship of this beautiful land between Shenandoah and Allegheny Mountains since the mid-1700s have done so without defiling the land God gave our forefathers. Certainly it has been cleared and molded to allow the raising of families but no one has seriously altered its beauty. Even the Yankee army couldn't destroy it and many of our ancestors fought and died defending it. They lay buried in its soil.
Coming back into the beautiful valleys of Highland is a visit I always treasure and anticipate more than most of you could possibly imagine. I would hate to see that beauty despoiled with windmills. There is always a price to pay for progress and I'm not yet convinced that progress will ensue from such a project. That the price of this "progress" is exceedingly high is obvious. To me, the price is not worth the cost.

George J. Bagot
Barnhart, Mo.