PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 7, 2025
I learned today that Smiling Hill Farm will cease its cross-country skiing operations because “of the increasing lack of snow in our area.” Smiling Hill Farm is where I discovered cross-country skiing as a child, and where I rediscovered it as an adult. This news, paired with the shelving of a plan to make a large swath of Smiling Hill Farm a highway connector, has highlighted how important it is to conserve green spaces. Once they are gone, they are gone forever, and their importance to our culture and communal well-being cannot be understated. Green spaces are also at risk due to climate change, and this news highlights the importance of electing representatives who will take action to mitigate climate change. We are already losing recreational spaces, and without making conservation and climate action a priority, we will lose more. ~ Julianna Hansen, Acton