To the Editor:

 

I have been keenly interested in the fate of Voice of America (VOA) Site A since it ceased broadcasting and later became surplus property. For over twenty years I regularly visited the site with binoculars and camera in hand. The binoculars were useful for seeing the unusual little Henslow’s Sparrow which nested there, and the camera was needed to capture the beauty of the area’s native orchids and other native wildflowers. Although the area at first glance looked like a huge five-square mile grassy field of transmission towers, it was much more to those who chose to look more closely.
When the VOA sites around the country were erected during the height of the “cold war” of the 1950s and 1960s, little time was spent on site preparation. The forests were cut down and the transmission towers were erected, as quickly as possible. No earth moving equipment was used to scrape and smooth the soil. As a consequence, two things happened. One was the emergence of native grasses and native wildflowers, something that would never have happened if the soil had been greatly disturbed and smoothed. The other was that the VOA managers had a very expensive mowing operation, because with all the tree roots and uneven ground, they could only mow using bush-hog mowers. Around the year 2000, it was costing them about $70,000 per year to pay their mowing contractor.
In 1993, the VOA managers tried to remedy the situation. They brought in some heavy equipment in the attempt to “smooth” the land, making it easier to mow. The equipment was not up to the task, and they gave up on this idea. This was fortunate for the little Henslow’s Sparrow, a declining bird of native grasslands, and the dozens of native wildflowers that made the area such a splendid botanical site.
I was hopeful that when the VOA site was put on the block, a wildlife agency could take over and maintain the area. The deer herds were prolific there, and the prairie grassland status could have been maintained. This is apparently not to be. I just hope that some thought will be given to maintaining a significant portion of the site in the manner in which it has been maintained for the past fifty years.
Alternatively, any attempts to turn the area in a recreational facility will be very expensive, involving what the VOA managers never did accomplish. That is, bringing in the earth movers, leveling out the land, and planting non-native grass. That being done, goodbye to the natural beauty that was VOA Site A.

 

John Wright

Wilson