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UMF Team Probes Links between Economy, Environment

March 07, 2011 - Farmington -- Does development on lakefront property affect the water quality? Will climate change affect tourism? Where is the balance between sustaining the environment and growing a nature-based economy?

Faculty and students at the University of Maine at Farmington hope to answer these and other questions through studying the Rangeley Lakes region of western Maine.

The group recently received a National Science Foundation grant of about $66,000 to gather data on everything from water quality to the tourism industry, according to Daniel Buckley, a UMF biology professor.

The study, which will start this year, will focus on how human actions affect the region's environment and economy, said Buckley.

The collected data is to be used in planning how the environment and economy is managed in the future.

Studying water quality, for example, will help "make certain that the lakes remain a viable resource up there," said Buckley.

About 19 students and eight professors from UMF will participate in the study. They are researching how issues such as climate change, invasive species, land-use policy impact lake habitats, forest ecology and the area's tourism-based economy, according to Buckley.

"This is all designed to provide knowledge for action," he said.

The university is partnering on the study with the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, a regional land trust.

The land trust has conserved 12,500 acres in the region. Its officials and members make decisions in the best interest of the land it oversees and owns, according to Nancy Perlson, executive direction for the land trust.

There have been problems with water quality and invasive plants hurting smaller ponds in the region, and more information is always needed, Perlson said.

"Having (UMF's) science-based knowledge kind of helps the local citizens and community organizations to come up with plans," Perlson said.

This upcoming study is part of a scheduled four-year UMF project to examine the diverse lakes and ecosystem that's "critical" to the economy in the Rangeley Lakes region, according to Buckley.

The work is building on other studies in the field that show relationships between environments and economies.

It is part of the larger sustainability science initiative involving many of the colleges in Maine, according to a UMF release. The National Science Foundation supports the studies through grants targeting under-funded projects, the release says.

There are similar studies being conducted by Colby College in the Belgrade Lakes region, according to Buckley, and there are efforts to compare the data to benefit the overall goal.

Referring to these studies' goal, Buckley said, "Are there lessons that we can learn that can be used to be smart in terms of how we interact with the environment?"

David Robinson, Morning Sentinal, March 2011
Advocates of Trail to Fryeburg Say Rail Project Throws Plans Off-Track

Fryeburg - Advocates of a walking and biking trail that could someday link Fryeburg to Portland are trying to delay the reconstruction of the Mountain Division Rail Line, which is due to start this month.

Although the contract for the $4 million job has been signed and rails have been delivered, trail committees and snowmobilers are asking state transportation officials to put the project on hold.

The issue pits rail proponents against the trail's advocates and threatens to fracture a long-term effort by both groups to create alternatives to highway transportation between the coast and western Maine.

Trail supporters have dubbed the project the "railroad to nowhere," while rail proponents say the controversy threatens a major economic spur for the region.

The conflict centers on five miles of the Mountain Division Rail Line between Bridge Street in Westbrook and Route 202 in South Windham. The state bought that section in 2007 from Pan Am Railways, which sold the rails and ties as salvage.

The state had bought other parts of the Mountain Division line in the 1990s, with the goal of creating a recreational trail next to the railway. In recent years, hikers and snowmobilers have been allowed to use the five miles of empty rail bed.

That section is part of a proposed 52-mile trail from Fryeburg to Portland. About six miles of paved trail have been completed next to the track from South Windham to Standish. The state has funded a 1.25-mile section of paved trail along the track in Fryeburg, and it's due to be built this summer.

In June, Maine voters approved a $47.8 million transportation bond that includes $4 million to restore the track along the Mountain Division line, to reopen the line to freight service. The state said recently that the trail will be closed to recreational use once construction starts March 22.

That announcement drew protests from recreational users, including snowmobilers who use the rail line as a highway to Fryeburg. "It is foolishness," said Dan McCarthy, president of the Westbrook Trailblazers snowmobile club.

Trail advocates say it makes no sense to rebuild the railway now. Even after the five-mile reconstruction, the state will have to find another $21 million or so to make improvements above South Windham.

State Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, who supported making the Mountain Division Railway part of June's bond package, said he hopes to win support to put a bond issue before voters this year to complete the improvements.

But trail advocates say that could take years, given the state's fiscal crisis and the anti-spending mood in the Republican-led State House.

Trail users are merely asking the state to put the construction on hold to allow time to make the trail part of the project, said Dave Kinsman, president of the Mountain Division Alliance, which formed in 1994 to promote the recreational trail and keep the railway open.

If the track is rebuilt without engineering and planning for the trail, it may no longer be possible to fit both. "We don't see what the big rush is," said Kinsman.

Meanwhile, Windham and Westbrook are awaiting word on their application for $3.4 million in state money to engineer and build a recreational trail along the railway.

Some rail supporters scoff at the economic impact of the trail compared with the potential economic benefits of freight service. Western Maine communities are pushing for the restoration of freight service to Portland to spark development in their region.

"It really is an issue of the common good," said Larry Seidl, owner of L.E. Seidl Trucking in Baldwin and president of the Baldwin Business Association.

The railway would spark economic development, save taxpayers money by reducing wear and tear on roads, and help alleviate traffic congestion, advocates say. They say that all of the money for the Mountain Division rail-trail has gone to the trail, and now it's time to shift focus to the rail portion of the project.

Lou Stack, a Standish town councilor, said traffic studies show that the restoration of rail would reduce truck trips in the region by 25,000 a year, plus another 19,000 truck trips that are expected from a planned wood pellet plant in Baldwin.

The rail-trail may have been a good idea when the railway fell into disuse 20 years ago, but in reality it doesn't work, said Tony Donovan, president of the Maine Rail Transit Coalition.

He said the completed six-mile section from Standish to Windham will be unpleasant for users once the trains return. "Picture pushing a baby carriage with a freight train running 5 or 10 feet away," he said.

Rail proponents say there are alternative locations for a recreational trail, but only one place for the railway.

The Sebago to the Sea Trail Coalition, a group of 19 land trusts, trail committees and municipalities including the Mountain Division Trail Alliance, is not giving up its effort to stall the rail restoration until the engineering for the trail is complete.

The coalition is exploring interim options, said Tania Neuschafer, project coordinator for the Sebago to the Sea Trail. They include continuing the trail along routes 237 and 25 or by boat on the Presumpscot River.

"They are not great options," Neuschafer said.

Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt, who was unavailable for comment, met with trail advocates last week and is due to meet with rail proponents next week. The project, originally scheduled to start in January, has been delayed to allow snowmobilers to finish the season, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

"But at this point, any other delays would end up costing us more money, because we would be breaking the contract," he said.

Beth Quimby, Portland Press Herald, March 2011

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Regions: Belgrade


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