Four small planeloads of state legislators got an aerial tour of Maine's North Woods yesterday.

Now, I get a little nervous any time I hear of the good folks in Augusta looking at anything for fear they'll propose yet another law or tax or fee or something. At least the plane trip got them out of the state capital for awhile. Couped up in a Cessna, I guess they couldn't do too much harm, but I'd rather see them at home in their backyards sipping a cold one reading the comics. Anything but comtemplating new legislation.

I'm not sure what conclusions, if any, they arrived at on their trip, but it appears that Pat McGowan, Maine's Conservation Commissioner, got them a pretty good eyeful of everything from the commercial forestlands to the conservation lands to all the beauty and diversity that makes our Maine woods so unique and valuable to all of us.

I do like how Don Marean, R-Hollis, described the tour: "There's nothing like seeing it firsthand."

It's true.

I wish more people could and would take such a tour of Maine's North Woods, whether by air or by vehicle. It would likely reduce the many misconceptions about what's truly happening up that way, and make working together to address the important issues regarding the forest's future a little easier.