Re: “Portland residents say brush-clearing project cleared way for rats” (Jan. 16):

The story of the rats in Libbytown was disconcerting on several levels – not the least of which were the comments from the Maine Department of Transportation.

For a state agency to cut down hundreds of trees throughout the city (and many more in Freeport), destroying buffer zones, wildlife habitat and releasing carbon into the atmosphere and then to blame the problem on the perhaps half-dozen camps seems not just disingenuous but also rather unkind.

When people and the environment are not protected, it is little wonder that rats flourish.

Zack Barowitz

Libbytown