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Plan Seeks to Protect Huge Tracts of Maine Forestland

January 05, 2010 - Maine will propose a pilot program to the federal government in February that would use state and national resources to conserve vast tracts of forestland, maintaining them as natural habitat and for recreation and sustainable forestry.

The Great Maine Forest Initiative would preserve forestland that could be harvested sustainably, stabilizing the source of wood fiber for Maine's pulp and paper and growing biomass energy industries.

A working group that includes state officials, environmentalists, outdoor recreation organizations, landowners and industry representatives has come up with a draft proposal.

The idea began to form in the summer, when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar came to Maine and learned more about the state's 18 million acres of forestland – the largest unfragmented woods east of the Mississippi River, according to Gov. John Baldacci.

Salazar said he was interested in working with the state to advance conservation efforts. Follow-up meetings in Washington with Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack led state officials to pursue a pilot program at their request.

The idea is to look at federal programs, or possibly develop new sources of federal funding, to take Maine's forest conservation efforts to a higher level, Baldacci said.

"Secretaries Vilsack and Salazar are willing to make a major investment," he said. "The goal is to find a pilot that will work at a large scale. I'm not sure how big that box is, but it could be substantial."

The percentage of Maine land in conservation has increased from 5 to 18 in the past decade. A portion of that conserved land is under working-forest conservation easements – meaning the timber can be sustainably harvested.

The concept has broad public support. Voters have approved four Land for Maine's Future bonds, totaling $112 million, since 1987. That has allowed the program to conserve more than 510,000 acres.

The working group is considering a similar model, on a larger level.

"We're talking about hundreds of thousands of acres at a time," said R. Alec Giffen, the state forester and a member of the group. "My hope would be we could have some really big, bold initiatives."

The group doesn't have any tracts identified; it would work only with buyers who are willing to sell property or conservation easements. The group doesn't want a national park or national forest, which would restrict uses.

"We can do Maine conservation in a unique way," said Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan.

Baldacci said he wants any vast conservation effort to be under state control.

"I think we're responsible enough stewards and have demonstrated that we have a value and culture and tradition around protecting our natural resources and doing it in a way that also allows for economic development," he said.

Recognizing the forestland as a key part of Maine's economy is important to the proposal.

Verso Paper gave a report to Baldacci this year that pointed to two major problems with operating in Maine: fluctuating prices for wood fiber and energy.

Paper companies were once the biggest landowners in Maine, controlling thousands of acres of forestland. But they divested, and now are at the mercy of the market, and of changing landowners who aren't always interested in selling timber for pulp.

Paper companies are under pressure to make investments in regions other than Maine, Baldacci said.

The forest initiative could stabilize fiber supplies by taking the uncertainty out of future forest uses and ownership. McGowan noted that many of the investment companies that own major parcels of Maine forestland are expected to sell their properties in the relatively near future, possibly presenting an opportunity for vast conservation purchases.

"What we're talking about is an important piece of the strategic plan for Maine's North Woods – against a backdrop of rapid land ownership turnover," said Everett "Brownie" Carson, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and a member of the working group.

The program also would use conservation easements with private landowners, allowing them to keep their land and preserve it as forest.

According to the state, about 23,000 people work in forestry and logging, wood product and furniture manufacturing, and papermaking, earning a total of $1.4 billion a year.

John Williams, executive director of the Maine Pulp & Paper Association, is a member of the working group. As Maine paper companies come out of the economic downturn, there will be pressure on the fiber supply, he said.

"I think the paper industry's here to stay, I think the biomass industry's here to stay," he said, "so we need a reliable fiber supply."

The industries involved are committed to sustainable harvesting, Williams said.

There's also an economic impact in maintaining Maine forestland for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, hiking, camping, mountain biking and other uses, McGowan said. Maine has 30 million visitors a year, he said, but two-thirds of them never go north of Brunswick. Promoting a vast conservation area could draw some of those tourists north, he said.

Carson said the entire concept is a work in progress. He cast the Great Maine Forest Initiative as a workable proposal that has many parties moving the idea forward.

"We've got to do something for the future of the North Woods now – that can be and will be broadly supported by Maine people, the conservation community and the forest products industry," Carson said.

By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, December 31, 2009


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