Maine Audubon Calls for Major Revisions of Massive Development Proposal

FALMOUTH, December 1, 2005

State’s leading wildlife organization sets conservation parameters for Plum Creek plan that currently “exemplifies development in the wrong place”

Maine’s largest wildlife conservation organization is calling for Plum Creek Timber Company to make major changes to the massive rezoning and development plan it has proposed for the Moosehead Lake region, following the company’s decision to revise its plan.

Maine Audubon is a statewide organization representing 11,000 members and supporters. Plum Creek Timber Company is a Seattle-based Real Estate Investment Trust that owns nearly 1,500 square miles of Maine’s North Woods.

A Plum Creek official has notified Maine Audubon that the company is revising and will soon resubmit to Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission its proposal to rezone 426,000 acres in the state, an area twice the size of Baxter State Park, to make way for 975 house lots, two resorts, three recreational vehicle parks, a golf course, a marina, four large commercial sporting camps, and a 1,000-acre industrial park.

“We’re looking for major changes to Plum Creek’s plan,” said Kevin Carley, Maine Audubon executive director. “The current proposal exemplifies development in the wrong place, with far too little wildlife conservation, and almost no guaranteed public access to the land. Wildlife conservation and public access are essential if the tourism and recreation economy of the region is to prosper.”

Similar concerns were expressed by a majority of the one thousand people who attended four “scoping sessions” LURC held this summer to learn what Maine residents think the commission should consider as it evaluates Plum Creek’s proposal. LURC is continuing to seek input on the company’s proposal from Maine groups, including Maine Audubon.

Maine Audubon believes Plum Creek should deliver the following in its revised proposal.

• Plum Creek should limit development to the area from Rockwood to Greenville, thereby building on existing community infrastructure and recreational assets like the Squaw Mountain ski area. This will avoid losing wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities in the remote, undeveloped forests to the east, north, and west of Moosehead Lake.

• To balance the development project, the largest ever proposed for Maine, the remainder of the lands should be placed under permanent land conservation agreement with provisions for sustaining wildlife habitat that will support healthy populations of Canada lynx, moose, pine marten, native brook trout, landlocked salmon, and other species, including migrating songbirds, that are potentially at risk in the area or that are critical to the local tourism economy.

• At the same time, the conservation agreement should guarantee public access for hunting, fishing, canoeing, and hiking, while protecting fishing areas, trails, wildlife-watching areas, and other resources essential to nature-based tourism.

When the revised application is submitted to LURC, Maine Audubon will review how completely it addresses impacts to ecological resources.

“The current proposal, for example, makes no mention of species listed as threatened or endangered,” said Sally Stockwell, Maine Audubon conservation director. “It places part of the development near an area the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife identifies as habitat for rare dragonflies, and it plans a huge resort in the middle of prime habitat for the threatened Canada lynx.” In November, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed designating 10,600 square miles of Maine’s North Woods as critical habitat that’s crucial to lynx recovery and survival.

Maine Audubon will seek formal intervenor status for hearings LURC is expected to hold next summer on Plum Creek’s revised application. In the interim, Maine Audubon’s conservation scientists will continue to analyze the proposed development’s impact on wildlife, and will develop proposals for conservation measures to balance it.

“Plum Creek’s landscape-scale development plan deserves landscape-scale conservation that will benefit the natural resource economy of the region and protect the values that are important to all Mainers, far into the future,” Carley said.

MAINE AUDUBON works to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation and action.

Support for Maine Audubon comes from its 11,000 members and supporters, including individuals, foundations and corporations. Members are automatically members of their local Maine Audubon chapter and National Audubon Society, Inc., of which Maine Audubon is an affiliate. Contributions to Maine Audubon are used only in Maine.

For more information or to become a member of Maine Audubon, call (207) 781-2330 or click here.

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