Paddlers get chance to speak on island issues

On Wednesday as the New England Patriots blew into town, I was staring into 25-30 mph winds and some nearly two-foot waves on Pushaw Lake trying to keep the bow of a borrowed kayak headed north and right-side up. I needed an adrenaline rush and a short break from my desk job to think through a story I’d seen earlier in the morning on the Associated Press wire which said kayakers who use Maine islands may soon face fees and restrictions on that use.

My paddling mentor, Karen Francoeur, was working up a bit of a sweat as well worrying about my potential demise in an unfamiliar, borrowed boat and keeping on course as well. The 54-degree temperature, paddling hard against the wind, and our warm clothing (dress for the water temperature, not the air temperature) combined to make us both uncomfortably hot. As we pulled into the lee of Dollar Island, we both breathed a sigh of relief. A drink of water and a chance to loosen our paddling jackets gave us a needed break before heading on a downwind leg that provided numerous opportunities to surf the backside of waves.

We coasted at the end of our southern sleigh ride to watch an eagle soar above us for several minutes and to talk about the news story I’d read, then headed back to our put-in and then to work.

The short outing had cleared my head, but not my curiosity. The story made it seem as if there would be a fee-for-use system in place next year. I know the concept and others had been floated at last fall’s Maine Island Trail Association stakeholders’ meeting, but it was only one of several concepts.

A use-fee proposal likely will be part of a 10-year management plan for Maine’s 38 public islands where camping is allowed (and possibly day-use fees as well for all 46 of the public islands), but there will be other ideas discussed as well. MITA has been charged with coming up with a plan like the 10-year management plans that exist for all of the state’s public lands, Stephen Spencer told me Thursday.

MITA will be guided in this process by an advisory committee of some 24 people. Their mission will involve consideration of critical issues facing island use, Spencer said.

These issues include consideration of the level of development or use on the islands (how much of an island should be used and how often); what degree of conservation can be accomplished with voluntary guidelines and what can be done with rules; commercial use; sharing between public and commercial use (guided trips and tour boats for example); balancing the need for different experiences and expectations; fire control; environmental monitoring; promotion of the resource; increasing demand for island access; limited mainland parking and launching; local community attitudes toward MITA; and shifts in private ownership that might take a privately owned island out of the Maine Island Trail and therefore put more pressure on nearby public islands.

There is very little research on the public reaction to charging a fee for use on public lands, Spencer said, but one side says the fees will help manage the resource and that people who pay a fee are more likely to take care of the place. The other side says that if you charge there is an expectation for service. An answer to that may be the retort that when you camp on an island you come back a better person for having had the experience, so to speak, Spencer said.

What this leads up to is a pair of discussions next week (6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Wiscasset’s Town Hall, and 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Ellsworth’s Town Hall) in which MITA will be seeking comments and guidance as it begins the process of coming up with the management plan.

As Spencer describes the process, MITA will take the comments into consideration, talk them over with the advisory committee, and draft a proposal. Public comments will be sought on the draft, a final draft will be crafted, and comments will be sought on it and considered for the final plan that will be presented to the commissioner of the Department of Conservation for approval.

One of the folks on the advisory committee is Natalie Springuel, president of the Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors. She said there are several MASKGI members on the committee and they were to be talking about their ideas on the planning process at last Thursday night’s meeting in Wiscasset.

“We regularly partner with MITA and [the Bureau of Parks and Lands] on various educational projects surrounding Leave No Trace and island user ethics,” Springuel said. “When a guide or outfitter joins our association, they sign onto strict guidelines for things like packing out all human waste and camping only in existing campsites. We teach our clients about Leave No Trace so that they will also become stewards of the islands.

“Many MASKGI members lead kayak camping excursions to public islands. We are looking forward to continuing our long-standing, open and honest relationship with MITA and BPL to do what is right for the public islands. We will be tackling this issue at [Thursday night’s] MASKGI meeting and representatives from both MITA and BPL will be leading that discussion.”

As more and more commercial outfits use Maine’s public islands, management of the resource becomes more complex.

Rachel Nixon, trail manager for MITA, says the non-profit organization faces numerous conundrums in trying to fairly managing the public islands – how to juggle outfitter (commercial) use so it doesn’t displace others who wish to use the space; how to regulate large groups wishing to use the islands; and how to encourage MITA membership (to keep the funds coming in) yet not increase the amount of use on the islands. MITA has not had a membership drive in three years, Nixon said.

Managing requires funding, and MITA and the BPL are looking for other long-term funding sources for public island management. “We have received grants to help out,” Nixon said. MITA receives between $100,000 and $140,000 per year to help with management. “We are also looking at establishing an endowment fund for long- term public island management,” she said.

One source of funds might be asking those who use the islands to contribute through a use fee. “In talking with outfitters,” Nixon said, several feel “maybe it is time to give something back.” One result could be a caretaker program that would benefit everyone. Last summer, for example, MITA and BPL cooperated and put a caretaker on Jewell Island in Casco Bay. Gerhard Saas helped to encourage low-impact camping, monitored use, picked up trash, and provided history and natural history lessons for anyone who’d listen. Saas also checked in on Little Chebeague, Little Snow, and Crow islands in the area.

The Stonington area, where there are some 16 islands on the trail, is one MITA has considered ripe for a caretaker. One role for a Stonington caretaker might be checking on campsite availability and advising potential users what is available. This might ameliorate overcrowding or excessive use on any given island.

What happens ultimately could hinge on comments made next Wednesday and Thursday. Why not attend and make your feelings known?

Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net