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Letter to the editor of the Portland Press Herald Much as we may admire Maine Audubon and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, I am far from convinced that their demand for "appropriate development" is the way to save Moosehead Lake for future generations. That's because I hold to the quaint idea that the way to save a treasured wilderness is to conserve it, not develop it - appropriate or otherwise. Plum Creek Timber Co. of Seattle is presenting a huge plan of development - the biggest in Maine history - to the Land Use Regulation Commission. Audubon and NRCM are right to oppose it and to offer a more responsible plan for LURC's consideration. They had better come up with somethilng more aggressive than that if they expect our grandchildren of 100 years from now to love as we do the land of the lynx and the loon, the bear and the beaver. Surely the time is right for Audubon and NRCM to join in support of a study to determine the feasibility of estasblilshling a Maine Woods Naitonal Park. As proposed by another environmental group, RESTORE: The North Woods, the 3-million-acre park would embrace Moosehead Lake, Baxter State Park and the headwaters of five major rivers. It would be a massive undertaking, to be sure, but developers don't shrink from massive undertakings, and we shouldn't either. Plum Creek, boasting 8 million acres of Western forestlands, is the nations biggest private landowner. I have the uneasy feeling that it got there; by putting environmental groups away like salted nuts. Taking on Plum Creek calls for a full-court press by Maine environmental groups. So far, that's not happening.
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