While you certainly highlighted a unique set of winners of the 2018 Source Sustainability Awards (March 18), it was disturbing to me that you did not include one person or organization focused on the preservation and protection of lakes and streams in Maine.

There are over 6,000 lakes in Maine, many of which are threatened by the combination of overdevelopment, climate change, nonpoint-source pollution and poor farming practices. These lakes are also the foundation for a multibillion-dollar industry, as they provide recreational opportunities to thousands of visitors and residents.

This is not to say that farming, the cultivation of worms and the protection of habitat are not important. Yet, they all go together, and to omit lakes and streams from your list of embattled entities in the state is to omit the very source from which many of your listed entities depend.

I always read the Source, and am usually intrigued and stimulated by the variety of articles. However, respectfully, I think you really missed an opportunity to highlight folks like Peter Lowell of the Lakes Environmental Association; Scott Williams of the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program; Keith Williams, Ph.D., a water quality monitor at Highland Lake in Windham since the 1980s; and Maggie Shannon of the Maine Lakes Society – just to name a few.

Rosie Hartzler

Windham

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