Hearings set on measures about Allagash River access

Frustrated by the fight over the proposed John’s Bridge canoe launch, environmentalists and advocates for increased access to the Allagash River will face off in Augusta next week.

Many wilderness canoeing guides have joined with environmental lobbying groups such as the Natural Resources Council of Maine to support a higher level of protection for the river by limiting the number of access points.

Fishermen and locals who make day trips on the river fear that their rights to access are being revoked. Lobbyists are “playing fast and loose with the facts,” said Dave Soucy of Fort Kent.

On Monday, legislators on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will hold public hearings on four bills that would shape the management of Maine’s only federally designated wilderness waterway.

The most controversial is a proposal to shift management of the waterway from the Department of Conservation to a new council. Sponsored by Sen. Richard Kneeland, R-Easton, the bill was introduced at the request of a group of St. John Valley residents concerned that management of the river lacks a diversity of opinion.

“Overall, the plan is to make sure that any changes are made by the people of Maine and in the light of day,” said Soucy, a lawyer who helped draft the bill.

Currently, a 13-member citizen council considers Allagash management issues, but the group’s role is purely advisory and its decisions can be vetoed by the conservation department.

The new Allagash River Advisory Council – whose name conspicuously avoids the word wilderness – would be the ultimate decision-making authority, answering only to the Legislature. The council would be composed of at least 10 gubernatorial appointees meeting very specific criteria. The bill sets no maximum membership.

The departments of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Environmental Protection could each designate a representative, as could groups representing sportsmen, Maine Guides and land conservationists. Every large landowner and every sporting camp with property within the waterway could send a representative. Finally, three seats would be set aside for people representing those who use the river during the winter months and for those who use the Allagash for long and short trips.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine sees the bill as a threat to the river’s wilderness character.

“We believe the proposed committee is weighted toward people who don’t support wilderness values,” said spokeswoman Judy Berk on Friday.

The new council would not be representative of all Maine’s people – only those in the north, added NRCM’s Cathy Johnson.

“The Allagash is a river for all the people of Maine,” she said.

The bill’s supporters disagree:

“This is a wilderness and it ought to remain so,” Soucy said. “We’re just concerned that the deals are being done behind closed doors.”

Environmentalists are supporting three other bills, designed to formalize several aspects of river management. One drafted by Rep. Ted Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, would delay consideration of all new access points until February 2004, when a federally mandated review of the waterway management plan is expected to be finished.

The bill would delay any action on the controversial John’s Bridge canoe launch, a proposal that is supported by many fishermen and opposed by such groups as NRCM and the Sierra Club.

“We shouldn’t be making any decisions that could alter the Allagash until that review is complete,” Koffman said.

“We shouldn’t be adding access points piecemeal,” Johnson said.

Additional bills sponsored by Rep. Linda McKee, D-Wayne, would require that the waterway manager receive formal wilderness training, and that he provide a written report on the use, condition and finances of the waterway each spring.

NRCM has scheduled Allagash Day, a public event to advocate for greater wilderness protection, Tuesday afternoon in the Hall of Flags at the State House. Guides, canoe makers and historians will be on hand to discuss their relationship with the river.