Coalition forms to save Moosehead
Times Record
12/02/2005

By Jym St. Pierre, Times Record Contributor

For years, conservationists warned that traditional ownership
patterns in the Maine Woods would not last, that paper companies
would cash out and developers would move in. The worst-case scenario
has arrived.

Plum Creek proposal LURCing

In 1998, Plum Creek Timber Company, a Real Estate Investment Trust
from Seattle, Wash., bought 905,000 acres in Maine. Despite a
reputation for selling land elsewhere for expensive developments,
Plum Creek officials gave assurances they had no plans to chop up
their Maine land.

In 2002, Plum Creek created the biggest subdivision in the history of
Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission, the agency responsible for
zoning and permitting in Maine's 10-million acre Unorganized
Territories. Again, a company official said, "We don't have any other
plans for something like this."

Before long, however, Plum Creek's latest development plan emerged.
It would rezone 426,000 acres in the Moosehead Lake region to enable
the largest real-estate development in Maine's history. The plan
includes:

--975 house lots on 15 lakes, ponds and a river.
--3,000-acre resort with golf course, marina and possibly thousands
more housing units.
-- 500-acre lodge facility.
-- three motor campgrounds with commercial development totaling 600 acres.
-- 1,000-acre commercial/industrial zone.
-- four supersized sporting camps and 100-plus rental cabins spread
throughout a so-called "no development" zone.

Even before Plum Creek submitted its "concept plan" to LURC in April
2005, more than a dozen prominent citizens presented a petition for a
moratorium to allow the agency time to craft zoning reflecting a
public vision for the region. However, the petition was rejected and
LURC began reviewing the development proposal without the benefit of
a specific plan for the Moosehead region.

In August, LURC held four scoping sessions attended by nearly 1,000
people. Close to 150 spoke and hundreds submitted written comments,
most critical of Plum Creek's proposal. Formal public hearings are
expected in spring 2006.

Concern growing

Conservationists have led the scrutiny of Plum Creek's plan and
alerted the public about its implications. Four groups ó RESTORE: The
North Woods, Forest Ecology Network, Friends of the Earth and
American Lands Alliance ó have launched a Save Moosehead campaign.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine also has been a vocal
opponent. Maine Audubon, Sierra Club and Appalachian Mountain Club
all have found the proposal deeply troubling. At the Common Ground
Fair in September, people stood in line to sign petitions to stop
Plum Creek. No environmental group has endorsed its plan.

There are other signs of widespread concern about Plum Creek's
proposal as well. Residents of the region have formed a Moosehead
Region Futures Committee to make their voices heard. Greenville, the
gateway town to Moosehead, is facing possible closure of its schools
and hospital and is desperate for jobs. Yet, local officials have
voted to withdraw their earlier endorsement of Plum Creek's plan
pending further deliberation. A statewide poll conducted in October
found 2 to 1 opposition to the plan (41 percent to 20 percent), with
opponents outnumbering supporters even in the northern counties.

Plum Creek says it is revising the proposal in response to concerns
raised, but accommodating demands for change was part of the
company's strategy from the beginning. By starting with an
overreaching proposal, people will be more receptive to a smaller,
but still sprawling development plan. The intensity of opposition is
causing revisions sooner than expected, but major changes are unlikely.

Maine woods at a crossroad

Plum Creek is not the only landowner planning misplaced and outsized
development. Another big Moosehead subdivision is pending. Several
companies want to erect wind turbines on mountains, and there are
other examples of creeping fragmentation and industrialization.

Nonetheless, Plum Creek's plan represents a turning point. Investors
determined to maximize return on investment now control most of the
Maine woods. Plum Creek's development plan would set a precedent for
how others can turn their forestlands into development profit centers.

There are alternatives. For instance, protecting undeveloped areas
around Moosehead in a national park would preserve public access to
lands, protect the environment and provide sustainable development to
benefit the regional economy for the long-term. Polls consistently
show strong public support for the park idea.

Indeed, no other state has the chance to do what Maine can. We could
have three world-class national parks to tap into the global interest
in ecotourism. Acadia is our world-class coastal and marine park. The
Appalachian National Scenic Trail, with its northern terminus at
Katahdin, is already a well-known long-distance hiking trail. To this
we could add the largest forested national park in the eastern United
States--Maine Woods National Park and Preserve.

Soon we must decide whether to dedicate the future of Moosehead
region to the few or the many.

 

Jym St. Pierre is Maine Director of RESTORE: The North Woods,
a regional conservation organization based in Hallowell.