SAVE MOOSEHEAD
Plum Creek development plan will cause wildlands sprawl
2006

The increasing rate of development in the Maine Woods is alarming. Over seven million acres of forestland in Maine were sold from 1998 to 2006. More and more of those lands are being carved up. However, the proposal by Plum Creek Timber Company for 426,000 acres in the Moosehead region represents the biggest single threat to maintaining the wild character of the Maine Woods for the future.

On April 5, 2005, Plum Creek submitted an application to the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) for the largest residential and commercial real estate development ever proposed in Maine. With some changes the company resubmitted the plan April 27, 2006. Although we have not been able to fully review the new plan yet, this huge project will still sprawl throughout the wildlands of the Moosehead region.

Summary of Proposed Development - 2006. Plum Creek ran an extensive public relations marketing campaign to build support for their new proposal even before it was submitted to LURC. Based on their first proposal we anticipate learning a lot more by reviewing the details, but the major parts of the proposal are summarized below:

• 975 house lots
• 480 shore front house lots on:
- Brassua Lake - Long Pond - Upper Wilson Pond - Prong Pond
- Moosehead Lake - Indian Pond - Burnham Pond
• 495 house lots not directly on shorelines

• 2,600-acre resort on Big Moose Mountain
• 500-acre resort on the shore of Moosehead Lake at Lily Bay
• 32,000 acres reserved for future development after 30 years

Summary of Proposed Mitigation - 2006

• 61,000 acres of permanent conservation (“working forest”) easement (Moosehead – Roach River area)

• 500-foot conservation easements on 55 ponds. If these are the same 55 ponds as in Plum Creek’s initial proposal, 32 would be considered undevelopable anyway. The easements would not go into effect until approval of subdivision plans for all 975 lots.

• 500-foot easements on undeveloped portions of subdivided ponds, contingent upon subdivision approval and phased in as development permits are granted.

• Easements for 74 miles of existing snowmobile trail, 58 miles of proposed hiking trail, and 12 miles for a proposed “hut and trail” system, contingent on approval of all elements of the rezoning. It is unclear whether Plum Creek could force the trails to be moved in the future at its discretion

.What you can do:

Sign up to be on RESTORE's Plum Creek Activist List. We will send you a new summary when our review is complete, keep you up-to-date, and alert you when action is needed. Contact: Ken Spalding at RESTORE, 9 Union St., Hallowell, ME 04347, 207-626-5635, ken@restore.org.

Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper.

Support conservation. Support the proposed Maine Woods National Park & Preserve and other conservation ideas for the area. Contact RESTORE to find out how to join others who want to Save Moosehead.

5/4/06

© RESTORE: The North Woods • 9 Union Street, Hallowell, Maine 04347 • 207-626-5635 mainewoods@restore.org
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