Possible Cell Tower Sparks Animal Habitat Conversation

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Verizon Wireless would like to build a cell tower near the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor on the North Hill Forest Block in Vermont, but the bustling animal environment in the area has the locals concerned.

Allan Thompson, a forester, wildlife biologist, and head of the Waterbury Conservation Commission, told the Waterbury Record that the Worcester Mountain Range is one core habitat and Mount Mansfield is the other.  

“Animals have to make decisions on where to go through, and the Shutesville Hill corridor has been identified as one of five or six places that connect two habitats,” he said. Route 100, which runs right down the middle of the area, is classified as a scenic byway complete with deer, moose crossing signs, bear and bobcat sightings. This may become a bit more difficult with a cell tower sitting in their passage.

The Waterbury Record said if animals have to find different routes, it’s called fragmentation, which “leads to a less diverse ecosystem, fewer species in an area and less diversity of genes within the same species. Animals can resort to inbreeding, which leads to weakened stock, more susceptible to diseases.” Animals obviously would rather stay away from humans, and the more we invade their habitat, the more unhealthy it is for them. This phenomenon is the same for migratory birds in the area.

The Shutesville/North Hill corridor, which is 2,067 acres in size, is noted as a “connectivity block” that forms a curvy chain linking the Adirondack Mountains with the Greens and the Taconics, north to the Suttons in Quebec and east through Maine to the Maritimes. Verizon has stated that this is the best area for its coverage goals—better service on the Route 100 and I-89 corridors.

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