West Branch Project assures forest protection

Development pressure is no longer something that is unique to southern Maine. Anyone who has spent time in the greater Moosehead Lake region recently is aware of the skyrocketing demand for real estate and not just waterfront.

Unfortunately, the demand for a piece of the Maine woods extends far beyond Moosehead Lake and is real for all the remote ponds in the north country. People with ample financial resources want their own mini-kingdoms and are willing to pay large sums for solitude and a lot of land. There is also pressure for 40-acre lots, largely unregulated by the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) and for camps in the middle of the woods.

The West Branch Project addresses this reality head-on and will assure that forever, this immense tract of land, 656,000 acres, will not be developed and lost as forest. The starting place for appreciating this promising project is the land included in the conservation easement and acquisition proposal.

At the heart of the proposal is the West Branch of the Penobscot River, a connecting thread in a vast watershed that includes five of Maine’s highest quality large lakes – Chesuncook, Seboomook, Ragged, Caucomgomoc and Penobscot. The Penobscot is prime habitat for a healthy landlocked salmon population and Penobscot Lake contains the rare blueback char. Big Spencer Mountain, Green and Little Russell Mountains all form a central part of the region’s cultural and recreational assets.

The project area also includes the headwaters of the St. John River and features the St. John Ponds, the beginning of the journey for those who paddle this remote and mysterious region. These lands embrace the northern end of Maine’s world-class lake resource, Moosehead Lake. Within the project’s borders are moose, eagles and loons, threatened and endangered plants, three old-growth forest stands, dozens of remote ponds, hundreds of miles of undeveloped shoreline, valuable wetlands, and historic Native American canoe routes. In sum, this region is the physical and emotional center of what defines Maine’s North Woods.

The West Branch Project is in two phases and it will combine both acquisition and conservation easements. In Phase I of the project, the state will acquire 4,242 acres of Big Spencer Mountain, a stunning geologic feature that hosts one of the largest older growth hardwoods stands in the North Woods. The state will also acquire miles of shoreline along Moosehead Lake and the West Branch of the Penobscot River to ensure the integrity of this popular, historic and beautiful waterway. Phase II of the project will include acquisition of ecologically significant lands such as within the headwaters region of the St. John River and along the West Branch of the Penobscot River.

In addition to the lands the state will acquire the remaining project acres will be subject to a conservation easement. The conservation easement will prohibit new development, limit subdivision of the land, assure public access on the property, provide the state with the right to manage recreational areas, and further restrict timber harvesting in ecologically and visually sensitive areas. The easement will also require a forest management plan that protects soil, wildlife, timber and water resources and ensures sustainable forest management on the project lands.

There now exists a dangerous combination of a new mix of forest owners in Maine and intensified development pressure in the North Woods. We have experienced a rapid increase in forestland ownership by investor groups (entities such as bank trust departments, insurance companies, mutual funds, pension funds and university endowment funds).

As of 1999, investor groups owned approximately 15 percent of Maine’s timberland or roughly 2,572,000 acres. Owning land for 15 or even 10 years is a long time for an investor owner to hold forest assets and then most of them are likely to sell, possibly dividing the land at the time to maximize investment returns. We have also witnessed wealthy individuals buy up huge tracts of forestland that the state was considering acquiring for the public to enjoy.

It would be naive to depend on the Tree Growth Tax program to retain the Maine woods as undeveloped, wild and accessible. The program can help slow down division and development, but the increasing value of land for development, especially along shorelines, is often significantly greater than the cost of taking a parcel out of Tree Growth status and paying the penalty.

Nor can we rely on LURC to prohibit forever, development throughout the north country. LURC regulations influence the design and sometimes the size and location of development but have not been effective in preventing the unraveling of large tracts of forestland or the incremental spread of seasonal homes.

The West Branch Project will bring us certainty against development and gating in the form of a permanent guarantee that regulations and tax incentives cannot. It promises to provide much more: added state acquisition, more stringent protection for wildlife habitat and streams, and forest management that guards against liquidation of the resource.

As we think about the future of the places like the West Branch, the old children’s rhyme about Humpty Dumpty may be relevant: “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.” Maine’s North Woods are like this – they are extraordinary in their extent and their natural, undeveloped qualities. Once they become divided, built upon and gated we will not be able to re-create what we once had.

Karin R. Tilberg is the Maine project director of the Northern Forest Alliance.