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I hate
the tower. It spoils the view of one our most beautiful mountains. 47
years is long enough!
How
can the US Forest Service say there will be "no significant
impact" to letting WLOS construct a new tower plus an added
1872 sq ft transmission building, then dismantling and hauling off the
old tower? Common sense says that it's bound to further disfigure the
top of Pisgah, and perpetuate a highly unsuitable use of public land.
With
due regard to the nice folks at WLOS, it's significant that this once
local station is now owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., a media
giant in Baltimore, Maryland, with 60 television stations in 40
markets reaching 25% of US households. Why is it that the US Forest
Service feels it needs to help this huge corporation at the expense of
the true owners of the land?
Hundreds
of thousands of people from all over the country travel the Blue Ridge
Parkway yearly to enjoy its spectacular beauty. How does the US Forest
Service square putting the interests of a single company ahead of the
enjoyment of all these people?
WLOS
has had the use of the top of Pisgah for 47 years. Now isn't it the
turn of the Blue Ridge Parkway visitors, the hikers, cyclists, and those seeking
a quiet, beautiful place of peace?
The
need to provide new HDTV capability by May, 2002, has been known by
broadcasters since 1996. Why is it the US Forest Service's responsibility
to provide WLOS a last minute solution? WLOS, as any well managed
business, must have identified workable alternatives, since its
Pisgah lease terminates the end of 2005. Why are these not pursued?
Mount
Pisgah, including its peak, belongs to everyone in this country, not
just us locals, and not the US Forest Service, whose job is "Caring
for the Land and Serving People". It's time to put the public's
interest first.
Isn't
it the responsibility of those of us living here, who have such easy
access to the riches of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the mountains to be good
stewards and to protect it all for the benefit of everyone else?
The
current lease to WLOS terminates at the end of 2005. The US Forest
Service should do nothing now to close out the alternative
of the
present tower being removed at that time. A lot has changed since the
present tower was built in 1954, and it does not have to be there
for WLOS to serve its viewers, who increasingly (already about 75 per
cent) get their signal via cable or satellite. And, of course
there are several other broadcast channels serving the area.
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