Saturday, April 28, 2007
Plum Creek Timber Co. introduced its latest plan on Friday for what would be northern Maine's largest development project.
The company's revised proposal for the Moosehead Lake region calls for fewer waterfront lots and more donated conservation land. It also would increase the amount of land zoned for development and the number of resort accommodations that could be built near the western shore of Moosehead.
The plan, submitted to the state's Land Use Regulation Commission, is the second revision that Plum Creek has made since it first proposed the massive development two years ago.
The Seattle-based company, one of the largest timberland owners in Maine and the country, has focused attention on the value and the future of Maine's 10 million-acre North Woods.
The revised plan still includes 975 house lots and two resorts, but the revisions would reduce shoreline development on Moosehead Lake and nearby ponds and lakes by 40 percent, said Luke Muzzy, Plum Creek's senior land asset manager.
The plan probably will meet some opposition, Muzzy said, but it also should ease concerns.
"We're not going to make everybody happy, on both sides," he said. "I hear all the time from some people saying there shouldn't be anything up here, and other people saying we should be able to do more development down the road."
Jym St. Pierre, Maine director of RESTORE: The North Woods, said the plan would double the amount of land on which the project would be developed, from about 10,000 acres to more than 20,000.
It also proposes to increase, from 500 to 800, the number of housing units -- houses, condominiums or hotel rooms -- allowable in the project's Big Moose Mountain resort.
While the plan contains improvements from the previous one, it's still out of scale for the region, St. Pierre said.
"What they're saying is, 'We've made improvements, so you should be happy,'" he said. "If you're hitting your head against the wall 100 times and then hitting your head against the wall only 80 times, I guess that's an improvement."
From the start, the plan has been opposed by environmental groups that say the development would be inappropriate for the largest undeveloped tract east of the Mississippi River.
The plan is the largest subdivision ever proposed in Maine.
Cathy Johnson, North Woods project manager for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said the new plan has some positive elements, such as moving some lots closer to the populated area of Greenville and dropping plans to develop house lots on a number of lakes and ponds.
However, Plum Creek's intention to develop a resort on Moosehead Lake's Lily Bay and house lots on the shores of Long Pond, 15 miles to the west, still troubles her.
"Our overall goal is to make sure the beauty and character of the spectacular Moosehead Lake region are not destroyed by Plum Creek's proposed development," Johnson said.
The new plan will be reviewed by the Land Use Regulation Commission, which oversees development in the state's unorganized territories.
The first possible date for the start of public hearings is Oct. 29, according to the commission.
Regarding land conservation, Plum Creek is proposing to increase the amount of land it puts into conservation from 70,000 to 90,000 acres once the plan is approved, Muzzy said.
It also plans to sell conservation easements and land totaling 341,000 acres to The Nature Conservancy and other groups.
If approved, it would be the second-largest conservation easement in U.S. history, Plum Creek said.
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In fact, the North Woods is a broad region of transition forest between the softwoods of boreal Canada and the hardwoods of southern Appalachia. It spans west to east from Minnesota to New Brunswick and encompasses all of the Maine industrial forest.
Confusion arises because Mainers tend to use "North Woods" in reference to the Unorganized Territories. In case you are not up to speed in Maine geography, the Unorganized Territories are unincorporated townships that occupy approximately half of the state. These are areas of land that were originally intended for Euro-American settlement, but through a twist of economy-driven fate became timberlands instead of towns and cities.
Another complicating factor is that within the Unorganized Territories is the "North Maine Woods," a multiple-use zone of timberland managed cooperatively between timberland owners and state natural resource agencies.
The debated Plum Creek land surrounding Moosehead Lake does not fall under the auspices of the "North Maine Woods." However, in the geographical ecological and historical sense, this region is, in fact, part of the eastern North American "North Woods."
Also, one should understand that there is not any "pristine wilderness" in Maine. It is all industrial forest, save for Baxter State Park (reclaimed land) and a few small enclaves of true Old Growth. The Allagash has a narrow no-harvest buffer separating the river from otherwise road-dissected timberland. Hardly pristine.
Regardless, open this quasi-wilderness up to development and in fifty years northern Maine will look like Massachusetts.
If you like houses and people everywhere, why not move to Massachusetts? They are developing themselves into oblivion - you can help them along!report abuse
"Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are destined to repeat them."
George Santayanareport abuse
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