Scenic highway sought Lawmaker targets Baxter corridor

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For the second half of the last century, the Moosehead Trail led people to Maine’s largest lake. In recent years, funds for signs pointing folks toward the scenic trail and famous fishery were raised by Piscataquis County Economic Development, helping to increase knowledge about the rural roadway.

Rep. Stephen Stanley, D-Medway, wants to see the same done for the roads around Baxter State Park by creating a scenic roadway leading to the park.

For 43 years there has been such a roadway, but it is hardly the attraction it once was.

Since 1959, a 100-mile stretch of roadway starting in Newport and ending within the park has been known, by law, as the “Mount Katahdin Trail.” The official trail starts at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Route 7 in Newport and follows Route 7 to Dover-Foxcroft, on to Milo via Route 16 and over to Route 11 and Baxter State Park. The trail follows the course it does because back when it was established, there was no Interstate near Newport or beyond Bangor.

Now, most people travel to Baxter State Park up I-95 to Medway. Department of Transportation signs advertise the south and north entrances to the park, but there is no “scenic highway” as such. And the old “Mount Katahdin Trail” is little used, says Stanley.

The Medway representative had a vision: to create a scenic highway from I-95 over to Baxter State Park, up through the park, and down scenic Route 11, which runs past forests and farms. Stanley said designating such a road would put the trail were it should be – and bring economic development to the area.

Stanley’s idea of a scenic highway was proposed in a bill to the Legislature, but was not accepted into the next session.

So for now, his vision will remain just that. And the original Mount Katahdin Trail will stay a little-known path.

But Stanley said he hasn’t given up on pursuing a new Mount Katahdin Trail.

“I knew the idea was gone with the [state’s] financial situation,” Stanley said. “I just wanted to get the idea out there.”

Fly-tying for free

The Penobscot Fly Fishers are casting their invitation to participate in fly-tying once again.

For the fifth year, Joe Bertolaccini will teach novices and welcome veterans to the club’s free fly-tying symposium. It will be held 7 to 9 p.m. every Thursday for 12 weeks starting Jan. 3 and concluding March 21.

The class has traditionally drawn about 35 people to the Bangor Parks and Recreation building (formerly the armory) on Main Street, but Bertolaccini said there is room for more.

For anyone even vaguely interested in the art of tying flies for spring and summer pleasure, the symposium is the way to learn. Not only does Bertolaccini teach you the mechanics of creating your own lures, the material is free. And if you miss a session, other instructors are on hand to make sure you don’t lag behind the other students. No one will be turned away.

Bertolaccini said the symposium is as much a club as a class.

“People like to get psyched up and tying again,” he said. “We start with the basics. But people who have tied before tend to get a lot out of it. It’s dynamic. There is new material, new techniques, new flies.”

The symposium is sponsored by the Penobscot Fly Fishers and the Federation of Fly Fishers.

Trapper’s class explodes

Luther Choate of Addison has been giving the state’s trapper education course, required for an adult trapping license, for close to 30 years. But Choate said he’s never seen the kind of interest that has been shown this year.

On Sunday, Choate will offer the course from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pleasant River Fish and Game Conservation Association clubhouse in Columbia Falls. Right now, Choate has 42 signed up, but said other coordinators have taken names of interested students, which means he could have close to 50. That’s far more than the 30-35 he usually has.

Choate said if many more sign up, he will have to turn students away, something he’s never had to do in all his years of teaching the course for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Choate said he can’t explain the increase in interest, except that it could be a result of DIF&W’s recent expansion of its coyote-snaring program. Whatever the reason, Choate is happy to introduce the pastime to youth.

“A famous judge once said, ‘If you teach children to trap, hunt, and fish, they will one day be standing on a jury, rather than before it,”‘ Choate said. “It gives them an interest in something legitimate, in the real world. It kept me straight.”

Choate said safety and the laws and regulations in trapping are taught. He said the techniques in trapping are not taught, but the laws outline well the best way to trap for success.

“You learn how to be safe. Breaking the law doesn’t help you. It doesn’t bring you in more fur,” he said.

A former president of the Maine Trappers Association for 12 years, Choate said he had a hand in helping to create some of the laws regulating trapping.

Youth between the ages of 10 and 16 can trap with a junior license in the presence of an adult, while those 16 and older must hold an adult trapping license. Choate’s education course is useful for anyone.

For information, call Choate at 483-6643.

Deirdre Fleming’s Outdoor Notebook appears every Saturday in the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 or at dfleming@bangordailynews.net.