The Maryland Wildlands Preservation System is under attack in the legislature, not by Republicans but by Democrats. And it appears it is being directed from high up in the party as Democratic Sens. Brian Feldman and Bill Ferguson and Del. C.T. Wilson, chair of the House Economic Matters Committee, are pushing this through and encouraging their committee members and colleagues to vote in step.

The bill is SB-0399, which pre-authorizes construction of a new transmission line in three Western Maryland wildlands pending Public Service Commission approval. These wildlands protect headwater streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and dozens of threatened species and sensitive habitats. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which has been responsible for protecting these lands for 50 years, is standing on the sidelines with no comment.

According to regulation, only the governor can request changes to existing wildland boundaries or ask for exceptions like this 200-foot-wide industrial transmission line, and only after public engagement and due diligence on environmental impacts and alternative route consideration.

The two sponsors of these bills from Western Maryland have previously expressed disdain for state protected areas that are “locked up to economic exploitation.” But they have shared that it was Democrats who asked them to sponsor these bills, no doubt so they could hide behind the curtain and protect their façade of conservation ethos.

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Some of the most influential conservation organizations in the region have come out against these bills, led by the League of Conservation Voters as they recognize the threat to conservation and the fact that this transmission line is connected from coal- and gas-powered generation in West Virginia to AI data centers in Virginia. Passing through Maryland with no benefit to our communities yet raising our electric rates even further. A nearby alternative path through strip mines, industrial wind farms, a landfill and a state OHV park is available.

The bigger issue is that passage would create a new pathway for future exploitation, exceptions and industrial development that any willing legislator with a powerful corporation in their ear could propose the same. Please contact your Democratic delegate and ask them to stop this bill — only Del. Lorig Charkoudian has voted against it, along with four Republicans.

Steve Storck, Oakland