What You See is...Worth Money.

 Sometimes a lot of money. In New Hampshire, for example, if your undeveloped campsite sits on a hill with a sweeping view of mountains, trees and soaring hawks, that vista may add $200,000 to $300,000 to your tax assessment. Property owners were stunned and outraged when the view tax went into effect in 2005. And they're stiill complaining. Imagine! New Hampshire has no sales tax, but I would rather pay 6 percent of $30,000 or so on annual expenditures for restaurants, dog food, a new refrigerator, a set of tires, etc., than an extra $4,000 because of what I can see from my rustic front porch or through my tent flaps on a dewy Granite State morn. And a question people keep asking is, "What if the property owner is blind?" And my question would be, "What if the view is of Vermont?"

A lot of New Hampshirites would rather look at 20 acres of junked cars than any snow-capped Vermont peak. I speak with a tiny bit of authority - my son and his family live in New Hampshire, in a house with a view that fortunately stops in a magnificent stand of white pines 100 yards from their front door. I was reminded of the view issue last Friday on a visit to the Stroud Water Research Center in Chester County. 

The center's director, Dr. Bernard Sweeney, is on a mission to establish riparian buffers on the banks of every stream in the White Clay Creek watershed.  An owner of a property bordering a stream, a restauranteur, asked Sweeney to pay a visit, and took him to a deck overlooking the Chester County countryside.  A stand of newly planted native tree seedlings, like the mighty red oak, was visible low to the ground, between Sweeney, the restaurant owner and the view. "You are going to ruin my million-dollar view," said the property owner. "Your trees are going to cost me money." Sweeney, quite the quick thinker, offered to rip out all the seedlings and plant lower-growing species, like sassafras. Problem solved. Now, if Sweeney wants to take some of those tall-growing seedlings to New Hampshire, he might find some eager buyers.  

Native American orchids can be beautiful additions to your woodlot, farm pond and even that flowerbed beside the barn, according to a story in Section B of this week's LF. But who ever heard of growing indigenous orchids? Dr. William Mathis, for one, proprietor of the Wild Orchid Company in Carversville, Pa. , at www.wildorchidcompany.com. He'll be speaking Monday, April 13, at the Lancaster Men's Garden Club, info at www.lancastergardenclub.org. And if you'd like to see orchids in their natural setting, check out the native gardens at Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, De. Their website is at www.mtcubacenter.org.

Here's what you can do when you're not spending time with TV or the internet. http://donttalkaboutwork.blogspot.com/2009/03/extreme-sheep-led-art.html