Dear Pemi Family,

Last fall, the Fauver and Reed families learned of a proposal to run a high-voltage direct-current transmission line from the Canadian border down through New Hampshire to southern New England.  The project, as well as the coalition of corporations proposing it, is called Northern Pass.  While the reasons why any such transmission line is a bad idea would fill many pages, this became very personal when we discovered that the preferred route would slash through the heart of the White Mountain National Forest, and the alternate route would cut directly across the head of Lower Baker Pond, up over Pemi Hill, and eventually through the heart of Al and Bertha Fauver’s home farm in Plymouth. This map and the one at the bottom illustrate the routes.

Our first step was to put together a committee of Pemi board members to identify our resources and to brainstorm how best to bring these resources to bear against this proposal. The first resource we identified, and it didn’t take but a split second, was the hundreds of loyal and passionate alumni who have spent some of their most formative, impressionable summers in the iconic New Hampshire landscape and its rich natural environment.

So we are reaching out to you. Whatever your reasons may be–whether you lament the contamination of our visual landscape or fear that hundreds of acres of prime wildlife habitat might be destroyed; whether you philosophically oppose importing more power from another country or abhor the idea of slashing a transmission line the length of the White Mountain National Forest (including the end of Lower Baker Pond and up Pemi Hill); or whether you cannot fathom using 19th-century technology to solve a 21st-century challenge—whatever your reasons may be, please join us and the vast majority of the citizens of New Hampshire, as well as The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Law Foundation, The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and the Sierra Club in opposing this project as currently designed.

Northern Pass has several permitting hurdles to leap. The first is to get a Presidential Permit to cross the international border with Canada.  The Department of Energy (DOE) is currently holding hearings to take public input on matters that will affect the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) required as part of the Presidential Permit evaluation process. The EIS covers environmental, economic and social impacts. DOE will also receive written comments until April 12, 2011.

Here are some things you can do:

–Learn about the project by visiting some of these websites:

• Bury the Northern Pass: A citizens’ blog
• Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
• Conservation Law Foundation
• HydroQuébec
• Northern Pass

–Send your written comments to:

–Call any of the organizations listed above, and volunteer your time and expertise

–Contribute to the war chests of these organizations

The Pemi Board is united and is marching boldly into the fray. We will be proud to have you at our side!

Our deepest thanks,

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The route of the entire project is shown below. Click here to see these maps in greater detail and to access maps of 46 individual cities and towns affected by this proposed project.