My Turn: Lawn care is winning, nature is losing

I have lived along the Green River for 45 years. One day in 1979 while swimming in the Green River, a woman told me she was selling a summer cottage just above the river. The moment I walked into the cabin, I knew this was the place I would grow old! Back then there was woods all around the cabin, and the yard was full of frogs and toads. Deer and bear crossed the woods. Summer months were filled with the amazing chorus of insects, and the screen door was covered with bugs and moths when the light was on! Several times I witnessed bird migrations filling the trees along the river numbering in the hundreds of thousands!

Then came the development, in one day wiping out the entire woods and desecrating two vernal pools. An attempt to mitigate the destruction was met with hostility from the developer and non-support from the Conservation Commission and Zoning Board. For the next six months we endured dynamiting while the developer began the cul-de-sac.

Fast forward to 2024. Fifteen houses now occupy the area that was once a wildlife refuge with wetlands and vernal pools. It is rare to see frogs or toads, and the other wildlife are basically gone. The development permeates with noise and traffic. This morning began with a local lawn care business leaf blowing above my home at 7:30 a.m. Two leaf blowers and large lawn equipment screamed into the woods and around my home for six hours. The noise makes it impossible to be in my yard and enjoy the woods. Next,the entire woods smelled of dryer scent. This now happens daily. The noise of lawn care equipment is everywhere!

Ride around Greenfield on any day during leaf season and you will hear that there is a war going on, and lawn care is winning, and many of us who value quiet and nature are losing. I am asking the Greenfield City Council to open up a discussion about this topic. Noise pollution is very real and getting worse. Where is the insight, recognition and respect for your neighbors and community? California banned gas leaf blowers and is transitioning to electric. I recognize that these businesses need equipment to survive. Perhaps the state could subsidize a transition into electric-based tools and we could again find respect, peace and community.

We live in this beautiful area for peace. Please recognize and be kind to one another and your neighbors who want to sit on the porch in peace and quiet, and get old.

John David Boles lives in Greenfield.