My name is Lillian Stevens and I am an 18 year old member of the small town of Cohoctah Michigan. I live on a farm raising cattle and poultry. Here in Cohoctah, agriculture is crucial to our history and day to day rural lives. Generations of farmers have passed down their land for their kin to carry out the peaceful, hard work of the agricultural scene. I am currently a stay at home mom and tend to our farm. However, even through my long and busy days I can't help but be burdened with the proposal of a devastating project on this soil.

1,500 acres. Thats how many acres of solar panels the Ranger Power corporation plans to tarnish over our community and fertile soil. The company says their project will generate “significant environmental and economic benefits for the community”. but I believe that their 300 football fields worth of eyesore and buzzing will do more harm than good. They claim to grow environmental and economic benefits when the truth is quite the opposite. With this project our soil will be plagued with chemicals used for dust suppression and dielectric fluids used to cool the units. The panels will also cause changes to microbial activity and cause soil erosion. This is certainly not an environmental benefit in our community. Saying it is an economic benefit is also insanely comical. That land that could be used for growing healthy crops or raising animals would now be in the hands of people who don't care about our community. The food, clothing and endless possibilities of natural beneficial products is something we should invest in instead. These corporations are trying to drown out rural America and we should not let that happen. Covering our history, our land and our way of life is not something I take lightly. To these corporations our town is nothing but more cash in their pockets. 

To the people of Cohoctah, Conway and surrounding towns, I ask you to please protest this. Use your voices so that they can't silence ours. While reading this letter it may be easy to separate these words from reality; however, this is a serious threat to the hardworking farmers who strive to deliver you healthy products made with love. I do not want 1,500 acres of solar panels. 1,500 acres, 300 football fields, multiple miles of big buzzing metal. Instead of driving along these old peaceful roads, looking out to the beautiful scenery, we will disrupt the way of life just to give this multi-million dollar company more in their selfish pockets. So please, come together to protest this and preserve our beautiful town.