West Branch Project

When voters overwhelmingly supported the $50 million land-bond proposal last November, they were making a big commitment to preserving undeveloped land in Maine. Yesterday, they were given a sense of what is possible with that level of support: the preservation of traditional ways of life in Maine and the public’s access to some of the state’s most beautiful areas.

Called the West Branch Project, the proposal announced by Gov. Angus King is a massive undertaking. With the help of the Forest Society of Maine, landowners Great Northwoods and Yankee Forest and the state have come to agreement on a conservation easement on 67,000 acres north and west of Moosehead Lake; the purchase of 12 miles of shoreline along the northeastern shore of Moosehead and the purchase of Big Spencer Mountain. Phase II of the project would add to the easement another 600,000 acres of land, which is managed by Wagner Forest Management, making the easement nearly as large as last year’s Pingree Forest Partnership. Timber production would continue, as would the guarantee of public access for hunting, fishing, hiking, etc.

Not only does the project preserve access to popular places for hunting, fishing and canoeing, it begins a broad survey of important ecological and recreational areas that would alter cutting practices to benefit these areas. The outright purchase of targeted sites — the Moosehead shoreline and Big Spencer Mountain, which has among the largest stands of older hardwood growth in Maine, are thoughtful and necessary conservation measures.

What makes this project particularly important, however, is its timing. It arrives as development around Moosehead Lake is again the result of a hot economy producing bushels of disposable income just to the south of Maine. But unlike the mid- and late-1980s, the land this time is held not by paper companies with mills to supply, but by investment firms charged with maximizing return rates. The question of dividing, subdividing and blocking off desirable parts of Maine now is not whether it will happen but why wouldn’t it?

Funding for these proposals in part will come from the bond approved by voters, but at least half of the cost of the initial phase of the project — $4 million — will be supplied by the federal government. Matching funds from private sources will further reduce the state’s share, stretching the bond money and giving Maine more options to find and preserve undeveloped land in the future.

Though the project is far from realized, there is much to celebrate in yesterday’s initial announcement, with continued access for Maine people to this undeveloped part of the state topping the list.