The environment would not take a significant hit under a proposal to free up the Wiscasset Municipal Airport’s airspace, the Federal Aviation Administration has determined.

However, the August 7 letter signed by Richard Doucette, an FAA environmental program manager, also acknowledges an issue that airport neighbor Chewonki Campground has raised — that it could lose trees important to the business.

In recent months, the issue has spawned many letters to the editor and at times filled the audience at Wiscasset selectmen’s meetings.

“This case is difficult, as one adjacent landowner feels they rely on these trees as part of their business, a campground,” Doucette states in his letter. “Determining appropriate (measures) for tree clearing in this case will require additional design and consideration. Once more detailed engineering is completed, the (town) and the ... landowner will have a better understanding of exactly how many trees need to be removed or topped, and what species of trees could exist ... without growing into the airspace.”

Doucette’s letter stems from the town’s environmental assessment of options for tackling the safety issue of trees sticking into the airspace. The preferred option in the assessment calls for lighting and for three acres of tree removal outside the airport, compared to another option’s 15 off-site acres of tree removal.

Pam Brackett, who co-owns the campground with her sister Ann Beck, said they were still reading through the documents and trying to understand the FAA’s decision.

Airport Manager Ervin Deck could not immediately be reached. Wiscasset Town Manager Don Gerrish said there’s one key point to keep in mind about the environmental assessment and the FAA’s decision in support of it: Those items do not trigger any tree removal.

“It’s part of a process you have to do,” Gerrish said.

Other steps include further consulting work, as well as negotiations with the campground, he said.

He still believes the final outcome will be a win-win for both the town and the campground, Gerrish added.