Looking through an old issue of Nature Conservancy (Summer 2008), I read a brief article at the front of the book about vacation homes threatening habitat in Appalachia.

As if Appalachia doesn’t have enough problems with mountaintop mining.

I feel very strongly that Americans must stop clearing land for second homes. No one needs more than one home. I can understand that people who travel often might like having an apartment in the cities they visit, but that doesn’t mean they need a second home. And it certainly doesn’t justify clearing land.

Some communities welcome the development of second homes because they bring jobs with them, at least initially. But if those homes are occupied only a few weeks or months of the year, then they actually lessen the community’s tax base over time, because those “residents” aren’t there every day buying things.