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Plum Creek Also Plays Role in Political Landscape

December 04, 2007 - Critics say the land giant is trying to buy influence; the company says it makes donations on principle.

Plum Creek Timber Co. has established itself as a corporate giant in Maine since arriving in 1998. It is one of the state's largest private landowners, with nearly a million acres, and it has proposed the largest subdivision plan in state history. It also has become one of the biggest corporate contributors in Maine politics.

Plum Creek has given more than $175,000 to legislative candidates and referendum campaigns in Maine during the past five years. That ranks it among the top 10 corporate givers, along with L.L. Bean, Verizon and Nestle Waters, the owner of Poland Spring.

The Seattle-based company's land holdings and development plans give it broad influence over Maine's future landscape. Plum Creek's donations, experts say, give it a similar measure of political influence.

"What they're trying to do is develop relationships and influence decision-making and policy. They're trying to keep the door open in case they need" help later on, said Bruce Freed, executive director of the Center for Political Accountability, a nonprofit research and advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

Some in Maine worry that the donations could influence the outcome of Plum Creek's development plans around Moosehead Lake. But company officials and some lawmakers say the company isn't looking for, or getting, any favors.

"We're trying to support certain causes ... and advance candidates that we think reflect the interests of our company and our employees," said Paul Davis, Plum Creek's general manager for the Northeast.
Plum Creek is the nation's largest private owner of timberland, with about 8.2 million acres in 18 states. Its business is primarily growing and cutting trees, although real estate sales and development are fast-growing sources of income.

The company's development plan for Maine calls for rezoning land around Moosehead Lake for two resorts and 975 house lots. The plan also would conserve about 400,000 acres of land.

Plum Creek also makes political donations in other states, and on the federal level. The company's political action committee donated a combined $24,500 to the four members of Maine's congressional delegation during the past eight years, according to federal records.

A review of state campaign finance records dating back to January 2002 reveals a company that sends a lot of checks -- $250 to $2,500 -- to Maine candidates and campaigns in both major parties. And it occasionally writes larger ones, including two contributions totaling $45,000 to help pass land conservation bonds in 2005 and 2007.

In other statewide campaigns, Plum Creek put $10,000 behind tax reform proposals in 2003 and 2004. It contributed $15,000 in cash to a group opposing a ban on the use of bait to hunt bears in 2004. And it gave $10,000 in support of a higher- education bond on the 2007 state ballot.

Plum Creek has been increasingly generous with its donations, according to the records. Its contributions in 2006 and 2007 -- a total of $96,400 -- are roughly double the amount contributed in 2004 and 2005. The company spreads around its contributions and donates to opposing sides in the same election. Last September, for example, the House Democratic Campaign Committee received a $2,500 check from Plum Creek. The next day, the House Republican Fund received $2,500.

The company has sent 76 contributions to more than 60 different candidates for state office in the past five years. Donations to legislative candidates are limited to $250.

One prominent candidate notably missing from Plum Creek's list is Maine Gov. John Baldacci. Plum Creek sent a $500 check -- the maximum allowed for gubernatorial candidates -- to his Republican opponent, Peter Cianchette, in 2002, but has not contributed to a Baldacci election.

Davis, the general manager, said Plum Creek doesn't have any policy against donating money to the governor. And Baldacci's office said he hasn't made any decision to refuse Plum Creek money.

The company did give $7,500 toward the governor's inaugural ball in 2002, according to Baldacci's spokesman, David Farmer. That gift was not subject to campaign finance limits or reporting rules.

Davis said Plum Creek supports causes that match its principles, such as land conservation and hunting rights. And it supports pro-business candidates from both parties, he said. That's why the company sometimes donates to both Republican and Democratic campaign funds during the same election season, or even the same week, Davis said.

"We think there's people on both sides of the aisle that support business and issues we think are important," he said.

Former state Rep. Arlan Jodrey, R-Bethel, received two $250 checks from Plum Creek, one in 2002 and the other in 2004. He said he never asked for the money and never was asked for any favors in return.

"I looked at it as gasoline money," he said.

Jodrey drove as much as 250 miles a day campaigning in his large, rural district. Jodrey was a member of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, which oversees forestry laws and the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission, the regulatory panel that is now weighing Plum Creek's development plans. He said he has supported Plum Creek's development plan "from Day One." But that's because he wants to bring economic development to the region, not because the company helped him fill his gas tank, he said.

"I have my own mind," Jodrey said.

Lawmakers do not have a direct say in whether Plum Creek's land should be rezoned for development. That will be up to the members of the land use commission, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature, and who can't accept contributions. But the Legislature does set policies that affect future land use in northern Maine's territories, a vast forested area that lacks municipal governments. Lawmakers also are expected to make their opinions on the plan known to the commission.

Sen. Douglas Smith, R-Cartha, and other northern Maine senators from both parties are gathering support from colleagues for a letter urging the land use commission to approve Plum Creek's Moosehead Lake plan as a way to bring needed economic development to the region.

"These people (lawmakers) have all come through an election process and speak for the public," Smith said. "Their voice would be important."

Smith said he's a retired tree farmer whose views did not change after receiving two $250 campaign donations from Plum Creek last year.

"I suppose they realized that I was a pro-business candidate and would generally support policies that are favorable to them," he said.

Others say Plum Creek is doing more than supporting friendly candidates -- it's making friends of future lawmakers.

"We think that Plum Creek is trying to buy influence through these political contributions," said Pete Didisheim, advocacy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a leading critic of Plum Creek's development plan.

Didisheim believes that Plum Creek's increased giving in the past couple of years is part of the company's strategy to win support for the plan.

"They own a million acres within LURC jurisdiction," he said. "All of the rules and regulations and laws that affect Plum Creek land go through the Legislature."

But Plum Creek's Davis said the gifts don't buy influence or access that the average voter doesn't have.

"I believe everybody has access to their legislators, and the ideas and positions carry more weight with the legislators than just cash donations," he said.

Checks for $250 might not seem large, but they help build relationships with lawmakers, said Jym St. Pierre, Maine director of RESTORE: The North Woods, another critic of Plum Creek's proposal.

"Those campaigns usually do not involve a lot of money," he said. "You can buy a lot of influence for not a lot of money in Maine ... People who are elected to public office don't forget who supported them and who didn't support them. That's how the system works."

House Minority Leader Joshua Tardy, R-Newport, said the lawmakers he works with are most responsive to the constituents who elect them, not donors who send checks.

"I think campaign donations and political donations are part of the business of politics," he said. "I don't think anyone should be naive."

But donors might expect more influence than they actually get, Tardy said. He has received two contributions from Plum Creek totaling $500. He said that it makes perfect sense for companies involved with forest products to support candidates who are most likely to back that industry.

"It goes without saying that forest products-based businesses know that their economic future depends in part on some of the policies made at the state level," Tardy said.

SOURCE: Natural Resources Council of Maine

DATE: 12-03-2007


Lakes: Moosehead Lake
Regions: Moosehead


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