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Mining Moosehead?

January 29, 2008 - Supporters of Plum Creek Timber Co.'s proposal to develop 20,000 acres in the Moosehead Lake region tout the company's plan to permanently conserve roughly 430,000 acres. From a mathematical point of view, it seems like a good deal. In return for zoning changes that would allow for 975 residential lots and two resorts in the heart of Maine's storied Moosehead Lake area, Plum Creek Timber Co. would permanently conserve a chunk of land roughly twice the size of Baxter State Park.

But the plan is only as good as the legal language that determines how that land can be used, and those who oppose it say there are big loopholes.

Supporters say the easement delivers conservation on valuable land and links already-preserved parcels to create a barrier to development stretching from Quebec to Mount Katahdin.

The plan is under review by the Land Use Regulation Commission, a seven-member panel that serves as the planning board for Maine's vast unorganized territories.

The last public hearing on the plan is scheduled Saturday in Greenville at the Greenville High School auditorium. Registration to speak begins at 9 a.m.

Cathy Johnson, Northwoods project director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, which opposes Plum Creek's plan, said the easement gives little to Maine people they don't already have.

Plum Creek, however, would receive "huge rights" in the 20,000 acres and be able to continue to use easement land for commercial forestry and in other ways.

The easements would allow septic waste spreading, cell phone towers and gravel mining, and, in the case of the 266,000-acre easement, commercial wind development, according to Johnson.

"This is an easement that was written by Plum Creek to have terms that are favorable to Plum Creek, instead of what we believe is appropriate," she said.

A memo written by Assistant Attorney General Amy B. Mills to the Bureau of Parks and Lands details several areas of concern in easement language and also suggests that the Bureau scrutinize language in other areas.

About a section on mineral rights, Mills said, "The language is unacceptable as it effectively allows mining activities on the property without regard to the conservation values of the easement."

The language also appears to make it difficult for the holder of the easement -- the party responsible for enforcing its terms -- to hold Plum Creek's feet to the fire.

Before siting structures and improvements or charging the public access fees, for example, Plum Creek is only required to "consult" with the easement holder.

Alan Hutchinson, executive director of the Forest Society of Maine which would holder the 91,000-acre balance easement, however, called Plum Creek's easement "as good as the best we have here in the state."

Hutchinson said the language that deals with enforcement and forestry practices in Plum Creek's proposal are similar, if not better, than in other large-scale working-forest easements.

"You want the conservation in the right locations and the development where it belongs," he said.

Plum Creek's proposal not only protects huge parcels of land in an area under increasing threat of development, it also connects to other conserved land to create a network that adds up to more than 2 million acres, said Hutchinson.

"It is almost like the Great Wall of China, right on the parts where the development pressures from the south are eroding into the North Woods," he said.

Hutchinson said the easements are written to allow for septic spreading, gravel mining and cell towers because of the needs of local communities.

Towns have historically used land that would be included in the easement for waste disposal, he said, and they need gravel to maintain roads. Cell phone towers are a public safety issue.

"Without a concept plan, the future of the area looks dismal to us," said Hutchinson. "Zoning is temporary. What we have on the table right now is permanent.


SOURCE: Kennebec Journal

DATE: 01-18-2008


Lakes: Moosehead Lake
Regions: Moosehead


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