Canoe launch project moves forward State revises Johns Bridge plan to include 600-foot path to Allagash

The state is going ahead with plans to build a controversial new canoe launch on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway at Johns Bridge. However, the river access south of Churchill Lake now will involve a 600-foot walk to the water, rather than the 150 feet the state proposed two years ago.

Last week, the state and the Natural Resources Council of Maine agreed to settle a lawsuit over the new boat launch after the Department of Conservation dropped its plans to build a loop road and 150-foot trail to the waterway. NRCM had sued the state contending the Land Use Regulation Commission was wrong to approve the plans.

Since then, the state has signed a memorandum of agreement with the National Park Service to correct other problems on the waterway. As part of that memo, the state agreed to build the Johns Bridge canoe launch at least 600 feet from the waterway, which is part of the national Wild and Scenic Rivers system and, therefore, subject to some park service guidelines. To limit development along the Allagash, which was designated as a “wild” river in 1970, the park service wanted the launch outside the 500-foot restricted zone that lines both sides of the 92-mile-long waterway.

In essence, the old plans and LURC permit had become a moot point, said Department of Conservation Commissioner Ron Lovaglio.

But, contrary to several media reports last week, the state has not abandoned its plans to build a trail and launch at Johns Bridge, which is between Eagle and Churchill lakes.

“We have every intention … to do it,” Lovaglio said Monday.

He said his agency would file a new application with LURC for the 600-foot trail “soon.” Much of the plan would remain the same, he said. For example, the parking lot would be built in the same place. But, a planned loop road that would allow people to drive within 150 feet of the water to unload their gear will be scrapped.

One question that remains is whether requiring people to carry their canoes and gear along a trail for 600 feet violates federal statutes on handicapped accessibility. Lovaglio said the state has raised that issue with the park service and they have said the new plan is OK.

Ironically, the state originally planned to build the new launch outside the 500-foot restricted zone that lines both sides of the waterway. However, the park service said this would violate the Americans With Disabilities Act and pushed to state to move to the design that included the 150-foot trail.

Then, late last year, the park service investigated the state for rebuilding a dam at the north end of Churchill Lake without first obtaining the required federal permit. To mitigate for this violation, the park service required the proposed Johns Bridge canoe launch be moved much farther away from the water.

In addition, the state must review its 1999 management plan for the waterway with an eye toward ensuring that the number of access points is appropriate.

Cathy Johnson of NRCM said Monday that she had hoped the state would conduct that review before deciding to move ahead with the Johns Bridge project.

“I’m disappointed to hear that,” she said upon learning that the Conservation Department planned to file a new application for the project.

She said the state’s new plans raise the question of whether any number of new access points can be built as long as the parking lots are 500 feet back from the river.

Lovaglio said his department saw no need to hold off on the Johns Bridge project pending the management plan review, because the park service endorsed the new launch site in the memorandum of agreement.