Last week, Mason voters defeated a proposed amendment to the town’s existing wetlands ordinance that would have adopted a 50-foot buffer around wetlands, primarily to protect those wetlands from development. The proposal was defeated despite support by the Select Board, the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission, despite being consistent with recommendations from every environmentally knowledgeable organization both governmental and private, and despite being similar to ordinances already in place in more than 50 New Hampshire towns.
Was the defeat a result of residents’ thoughtful reasoning about the issues, or was it more a testimony to the growing power of misinformation? I suspect the latter. Opponents, backed by local developers, applied misdirection, half-truths, hyperbole, unjustified suppositions and outright lies to foster an atmosphere of fear and anger in pursuit of their desired outcome, while conveniently ignoring the core underlying issue of protecting Mason’s natural resources against encroaching development pressure. Both the tactics employed and the result obtained sadden me because both bode ill for Mason’s future. Both illustrate the national trend toward prioritizing individual self-interest over community benefit even when the sacrifice involved (if “sacrifice” is even the right word here) is really no sacrifice at all.
I was hopeful Mason could escape this plague. I was wrong. And for those who might think I’m just proselytizing, my property is 40% wetland, around which is a self-imposed 100-foot buffer. To be fair, humans in general hesitate to accept near-term concessions for long-term gain, but this truth gives me no comfort. As for this moment, at least there’s the knowledge that today we’re no worse off than we were before the vote. But we’re certainly no better off, either.
Robert Dillberger
Mason