Our Lives are Enriched

To the editor:

Again, because of a column in the last issue (“Tourism,” p. 28), I feel compelled to put the influx of summer visitors into perspective. There are about 1,300 people who live year-round on Vinalhaven. Of these exactly half comprise the work force. Of these 650 exactly half comprise the lobster fishing community. Half of this community, in other words, is directly dependent upon the lobstering industry for their survival. The other half, while enjoying and benefiting from the prosperity of those fishermen and their families, are equally dependent upon seasonal business and the town as a whole is similarly dependent to an extraordinary degree. Without question, the sudden explosion of people and noise and traffic takes a toll, particularly by the end of summer, on us all and it’s a serious issue that needs constructive attention such as that being directed by the two-year-long Comprehensive Planning effort now winding down. On the other hand we could not maintain the standard of living we now enjoy as a community nor could we even think about any of the enormous improvements to our infrastructure now underway without the economic benefit that accrues to us from the taxes paid by our summer residents and from the money spent here on the island by them and by tourists. Our lives are enriched by this seasonal influx and, for that matter, the reverse is true. We suffer more as a community from the behavior and cavalier disregard of a handful of our own than we do from the grateful people who visit us each year. I’ve never seen a tourist casually toss an empty Bud bottle out the window to smash along side the road, foul the beaches with trash, drive drunk, slash tires, sink boats or smash windows. For that matter I’m hard pressed to even find one who, as the article suggests, is rude. There are constructive ways to deal with the legitimate threat that excessive tourism, like excessive anything, presents. We can always avail ourselves of them.

Phil Crossman

Vinalhaven