Parties tight-lipped on Maine woods deal > Plan to protect trees, industry may be near

Forest activists and large landowners waltzed on the edge of a razor Wednesday, as they sought a compromise to protect Maine timberlands without bleeding forest-products companies.

There were signs that a deal is near, but no one involved in the negotiations would volunteer any information. That included Jonathan Carter, a leader of the November referendum effort to ban clear-cutting and to impose other restrictions on wood harvesting in the unorganized territories.

Normally a loquacious proponent of the referendum, Carter said Wednesday that he had given his word not to discuss any proposed agreement. His only comment: “Ban Clearcutting (the political action committee supporting the clear-cutting initiative) will not support anything that isn’t stronger than the referendum.”

Other sources said that Carter, a former gubernatorial candidate for the Green Party, met for several hours Tuesday with proponents of the compromise at the Natural Resources Council of Maine headquarters in Augusta.

Reportedly, other individuals and organizations with an interest in the North Woods also have been invited to the NRCM offices over the past several days to debate the merits of a proposal.

But officials of the state’s largest environmental organization declined to comment on the recent developments. Tim Glidden, deputy director of NRCM, would only repeat statements he has made several times in the past.

“Things are still in a pretty fluid state,” said Glidden. “I think some significant progress has been made over the past week, but there are one or two significant elements of this possible package that have to come together. We’re hoping that’s going to happen.”

The administration of Gov. Angus King also is saying little about the potential compromise.

“We’ve felt a deal was near for some time,” said Dennis Bailey, chief spokesman for the governor. “We think it’s 90 percent there … but it’s very fluid, very fragile.”

Bailey said it remains to be seen if supporters of the referendum will accept the compromise. “We just don’t know yet,” he said.

The governor’s spokesman commended mainstream environmental groups and landowners for showing “extraordinary willingness to reach for a compromise,” but he declined to provide details of the proposal.

Hints dropped by others involved in the negotiations suggest it includes at least two elements: some regulatory changes that would expand protection for the forest, coupled with a certification process that would encourage forest landowners to voluntarily reach for even higher standards.

One million acres of Maine land owned by the Pingree heirs already has received “green certification.” The process involved an independent review by Scientific Certification Systems of Oakland, Calif., one of the oldest and largest firms that investigate environmental claims.

SCS found that forest practices on the Pingree lands were environmentally benign, indefinitely sustainable and economically beneficial to the community. The lands are managed by Seven Islands Land Co. of Bangor.

John Cashwell, president of Seven Islands, is a leading participant in the negotiations for a compromise. He was unavailable for comment this week.

On Wednesday, the Maine Times reported the agreement also included a proposal for limiting “liquidation harvests,” in which real estate firms and logging contractors buy, strip and subdivide forest land. That provision could not be independently confirmed.

It remained uncertain how any deal would be implemented. Gov. King said recently that, as time passes, a special legislative session is becoming increasingly unlikely.

Sen. Majority Leader Leo Kieffer, R-Caribou, said Wednesday that he will oppose a special session unless the compromise is accepted by all of the groups with an interest in the forest.

“All of the players are not at the table,” said Kieffer. “In their absence, it’s hard to know what a special session would accomplish. … I will be opposed unless there is a unanimous meeting of the minds of all the players.”