Nearly 70,000 acres of state-owned land have been set aside as ecological reserves where timber harvesting and motorized vehicles will be restricted, state officials announced Tuesday.

Thirteen areas, including the Bigelow Preserve, Nahmakanta and Donnell Pond, now carry this new, higher level of protection. All the areas are part of the Public Reserved Lands system, which contains nearly 500,000 acres managed by the Department of Conservation, most of it in northern and eastern Maine.

In passing a bill put forth by the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, the Legislature last year directed the state to establish ecological reserves where examples of native Maine plant and animal communities that have remained fairly undisturbed would be protected and could be studied. The Legislature stipulated that traditional uses, such as hiking, hunting and fishing must continue to be allowed on the lands. Timber harvesting and motorized recreation, such as snowmobiling and the use of all-terrain vehicles, can be restricted.

Those involved in the project believe Maine is one of the first states to set aside such areas. New Hampshire and Vermont are working on similar plans. Several Canadian provinces have set aside reserves to protect native ecosystems.

The point, said Joe Wiley, a wildlife specialist with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife who worked on the ecological reserves project for the Department of Conservation, is to set aside these areas and then study them. The studies will provide information about what happens to a forest when it is not managed. These areas then can be compared to areas where timber is harvested, and what is learned may be used to improve forest practices.

Most of the lands that have been set aside – nearly 70 percent – cannot sustain timber harvesting because they are on slopes, in wetlands or at high elevations.

Wiley said the average Mainer would notice no difference on the lands set aside as ecological reserves. However, some snowmobile trails may be moved and some roads may be abandoned, he said.

Environmental groups cheered the announcement but called for more.

“Ecological reserves are absolutely critical to protect our plant and animal heritage,” said Cathy Johnson, the North Woods project leader for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “A successful ecological reserves program would protect representative examples of each of the state’s 100-plus ecosystem types – from salt marshes to cedar swamps to spruce-fir forests to alpine meadows.”

To achieve full protection, Johnson said, IF&W should also set aside reserves on the 100,000 acres the department owns.

IF&W spokesman Mark Latti said his department is reviewing 12 potential ecological reserve sites. A decision on what areas should be set aside should be made by September, he said.

Lawmakers began talking about setting aside ecological reserves more than 10 years ago. From 1995 to 1998, the Maine Forest Biodiversity Project, a collaborative of environmental and forest product groups, conducted an inventory of ecologically significant lands in the state. Thirty-three sites totaling 180,000 acres were identified on Conservation Department land. An additional 12 sites totaling 21,000 acres were identified on IF&W-owned land.

The Legislature stipulated that no more than 15 percent of Maine’s Public Reserved Lands and no more than 6 percent of such land that is capable of sustaining forestry operations be designated as ecological reserves.

The 13 areas chosen, which comprise 68,974 acres, come close to both restrictions.

The Maine Forest Products Council supported the reserves concept, but only if the Conservation Department committed to maintaining its wood harvesting levels so that no loggers would be put out of jobs, said Abby Holman, the group’s executive director. She said the department would have to cut more wood on the land that does not have reserve status to ensure that about a dozen jobs are not lost. The department cuts much less timber than it is allowed to. It uses income from timber harvesting to run the public reserved lands.