about the only major drawback other than the impact on the viewshed, is that birds regularly collide with them. The birds are not attracted to them, however they will hit them when in flight. This seems to occur most in those species that migrate at night.

However, I have seen where land owners have gone the route of installing a cell tower in order to receive the payments for the footprint rather than sell thier land for development. I do a lot of field work (I am a botanist) and I am around them quite regularly. The utilities are very good about keeping them clean and serviced in my area.

There is little to back up any claims that there is any adverse health effects to cell towers.

care to discuss what you mean by "impact on the viewshed"

What would help the birds to notice the towers? I heard it may have something to do with their magnectic internal guidance that tracts them to the towers...like a fly to a lamp?! Please correct me there if need be.

ANd what do you mean "footprint", the value of your property goes down with any structure of the sort on the land. It would be less desirable unless the lease payment was handsome enough.

And that slippery remark about keeping them clean and serviced is concerning...would they be required to spray the area for weeds or such invasives if need be or as a practise? Aerial? and how do they service, just walk on and do their thing like the meter man checking for the electric?

What happens to the radio waves once a tower comes into place...how close can one be to the tower before feeling or subjected to higher gh of micro-waves. Would fragile and those with compromised immune systems have any affects?

I realize that this is more like the cigarette of the 21st century questions.

Concerned myself, as an X-Xray-tech-, having experienced too much radiation over the years and wondering how I will fair with towers going up near me.

I believe the hope is to have a tower to meet all ranges from 3-5 mile radius. ( kinda star war like) wondering if I will be able to escape the xtra exposure at will.

Impact on the viewshed simply means will it look bad where it is placed. I prefer to not see large manmade structures in areas that have a pretty natural look to them. If the proposed tower is going into an already developed area this may be a moot point.

Birds... There is not much that can be done to warn off birds. While many birds do have organs / areas in their brains that allow them to orient for migratory purposes, there is little evidence that they are attracted. The birds just do not see them in the dark and run into them much like hitting a window. Birds just never evolved the ability to avoid a cell tower. Also, keep in mind I am not implying that they are going to decimate a local bird population. This type of even has occurred from the time the first radio towers were installed.

Property values. My comments were in regard to what is occurring here. In my area of the southeast, many farmers are being lured away from farming to sell their land for housing developments. I know of two farmers that rather than sell their land for development, chose to allow a utility to place towers on their land. I am to polite to ask what the lease payments were, however I do know that they were happy with them. I believe that the lease payments for a 40X40 footprint was more than adequate to pay the taxes and allow them to continue farming the land.

I am not sure what you want to hear about property values... I personally would rather see the (intrinsic) value drop to dissuade development if at all possible. This is a judgement call that you have to make.

Clean and serviced. Generally, the utility will drive up to the tower and do the needed work. Most towers have in conjunction a service line, power supply, small structure to hold the computers, and sometimes a backup generator. In many cases in my area, we have worked with utilities to avoid using herbicides on the surrounding area. If a case can be made as to why mowing should be done, they are more than happy to help. Depending on the area, there may be native plants that can be protected. (not necessarily threatened / endangered - an impact statement would point these out and likely prevent the tower from being installed in the first place) Also, you can ask that non-invasive species be used for soil stabilization.

Radiation hazard. My personal feeling is that the EMF (electro magnetic frequency) issues are minimal. Speaking as a scientist, I have yet to see any credible journals back up claims that the EMF associated with towers / electrical lines / etc. are a threat to public health at a statistically significant rate. I am sure that there may be many that disagree with this, and that is fine, but show me the data. I am sure as a X-ray tech you are exposed to FAR more radiation than you would experience living next to the tower. Also consider that we live in a world saturated with EMF be it from power-lines, radios, cell phones, wi-fi, the wires in your home, and many many other sources. Sitting in front of your computer you are being hit with EMF.

I fall into the category of extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There are far more damaging things in the environment that I would concern myself with. (pollution etc.)

What it really comes down to is the value judgement of do you want to live near the tower and see it all the time.

Andrew

The EMF issues of cell phone towers are the same as those of electric power transmission systems, negligable at best. Time and energy spent on this issue would be better spent on getting GMO foods properly labled in the USA as they are in Europe and keeping cloned meats out of the market place.