Editor:

Recent articles in Wyoming papers indicate there is a growing public concern over the loss of open spaces and scenic vistas in our beautiful state. Recent polls show that protecting open spaces and scenic vistas are very important or extremely important to 73 percent of Wyoming residents. I sincerely hope that the Wyoming Department of Transportation is paying attention.

Most residents and visitors view our scenic vistas from the state's various highways and byways. WYDOT, more so than any other single agency, has the greatest opportunity to influence our scenic vistas in a positive or negative fashion. Unfortunately, their performance in many visually sensitive areas is sorely lacking.

I traveled through the new construction on SH 14 over the north end of the beautiful Bighorn Mountains recently. The tremendous amount of excavation, the massive cuts and fills, and road realignment to remove a few curves is baffling. Why is it OK to have curves that slow traffic down to less than 30 mph in a road as you drive up the mountain, but once you reach the top it becomes necessary to disrupt the scenic integrity and spend millions of taxpayer dollars to turn it into a high-speed roadway? The road is a National Scenic Byway and its primary users are people driving for pleasure for gosh sakes! It's OK to slow down and enjoy the mountains!

WYDOT, more so than any other state or province in North America, is absolutely infatuated by high wall, scenery disrupting, permanent snow fences. They have lined our roadways with hundreds of miles of these 12-16-foot high walls. Sadly, many are in scenic corridors and placed in skyline locations. WYDOT even scattered a mile of 12-foot high permanent wall-type snow fencing across the spectacular alpine tundra at Powder River Pass on SH 16, which is a National Scenic Byway.

I am well aware of WYDOT's objective of maximizing highway safety at minimal maintenance cost. However, every other snowbelt state and province in North America gets the snow removal job done using other time-tested methods without such permanent disruption of the roadside scenery.

I would respectfully give the engineers at WYDOT an A- for their skills at moving massive amounts of soil and rock and, sadly, a D- for their lack of professionalism in managing Wyoming's beautiful roadside visual resources.

LARRY J. THONEY, Sheridan