COA workshop to focus on coast preservation

BAR HARBOR — Coastal residents concerned with the preservation of scenic vistas and unique shoreland areas are scheduled to meet next week at the College of the Atlantic for a special three-day workshop.

Hank Tyler, chairman of the State Planning Office’s Critical Areas Program, said more than 100 people are expected to attend the session that will get under way at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4. The workshop will conclude at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6.

“Maine citizens have a strong tradition for conservation of special lands within the state,” Tyler said. “And Maine clearly has fabulous coastal scenery as well as inland scenery. This will be our first three-day workshop dealing with scenic coastal issues.”

For the last 14 years, Tyler has chaired the Critical Areas Program, a study involving the identification and preservation of scenic areas throughout the state. Maine’s special areas are selected on the basis of botanical, zoological, geological and scenic qualities. Tyler said an inventory of those areas in all of the state’s coastal counties is under way.

Sponsored by Acadia National Park, COA and a dozen associated state and local environmental agencies, the Maine Coast Scenic Workshop will feature two British guest speakers who will discuss efforts to preserve scenic coastline areas in Great Britain.

“We went to England last year as guests of the British government and we learned a lot about scenic conservation,” Tyler said. “We thought it would be worthwhile to invite our hosts here this year to learn more about what they’ve been doing.”

Richard Lloyd, of the Countryside Commission of England, and Peter Mansfield, of the National Trust in England, are expected to provide some helpful insight on landscape planning as well as to discuss the English approach to conservation.

The workshop is open to professionals and volunteers involved in scenic planning. Tyler said more than 500 programs have been mailed to town selectmen, Planning Board members, and other town and county officials.

Five different discussion groups will examine the following topics guided by the following group leaders: Inventory and Documentation, Terry DeWan and Holly Dominie, State Planning Office consultants; Voluntary Protection, Caroline Pryor of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust; Scenic Designation, Tyler and Jerry Casey of the state Department of Transportation; Town Planning and Economic Development, Mary Boyd-Broemel, state Office of Comprehensive Planning and Ron Poitras of the Hancock County Planning Commission; Tourism and the Conservation of Coastal Scenic Resources, Jim Bernard, State Planning Office; John Johnson, state Office of Tourism, and Jill Goldthwaite, Bar Harbor Town Council.

In addition to information available through the discussion groups and from the guest speakers at the workshop, participants will have an opportunity to go on three field trips. A trip to Stonington and nearby Russ Island will focus on the relative value of island scenery and whether islands should be considered as individual entities or as groups, with respect to scenic value.

A tour of Bar Harbor and Blue Hill will acquaint the workshop participants with the interrelationship between tourism and scenic areas. Scenic areas along Maine’s coastal highways will also be studied by the group during trips to sections of Route 3, Route 1 and Route 182.

Jack Hauptman, superintendent of Acadia National Park, will present opening and closing remarks during the session. Other groups participating in the workshop include: the Atlantic Center for the Environment, the Eastern Mid-Coast Planning Commission, the Frenchman Bay Conservancy, the Friends of Acadia, the Hancock County Planning Commission, the Island Institute, the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, the Maine Coastal Program, the Maine Department of Transportation, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, the Maine Office of Tourism and the Maine Office of Comprehensive Planning.