Conflict remains over Allagash access rules

ORONO – A proposed compromise to allow some access to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway at John’s Bridge could be approved in time for fall fishing, Department of Conservation Commissioner Pat McGowan said Thursday.

But despite the much-praised River Drivers Agreement – a plan for the Allagash’s future drafted by a group of stakeholders at a May retreat – controversy over traditional access routes to the waterway remains.

In Orono on Tuesday, the Department of Conservation held both a meeting of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Advisory Council and a public hearing on a list of proposed rule changes including the John’s Bridge decision.

As proposed by the River Drivers plan, the rule would allow fishermen access over John’s Bridge in May and September. Access would be for day use only, and fishermen would have to obtain a permit from the Bureau of Parks and Lands.

No one commented on the specifics of John’s Bridge, which had been an explosive issue for former Gov. Angus King’s administration after it proposed full access at the site.

McGowan is proposing the limited-access option alongside encouragement to use Churchill Dam and Indian Stream as alternatives.

Neither the council nor the public was silent on the department’s management of the Allagash, however. Worries about the loss of traditional day access for locals in favor of wilderness canoeists have not been solved by McGowan’s compromise.

Councilor Rick Denico of Vassalboro raised concerns about taking away the right to some of the footpaths that offer access to the permitted entrances to the Allagash by its tributaries.

Councilor Sarah Medina, who represents the Seven Islands Land Co., one of the waterway’s neighbors, worried that changes to the description of “campground cell” inadvertently might make pickup truck campers illegal in places where they have been permitted. She also is worried that people would misunderstand the reason for closing the parking lot at Umsaskis Thoroughfare. The department says the lot isn’t used frequently.

“That’s just one more thing that Maine people can look at and say, ‘They’re taking it away from us,'” she said.

Others were simply frustrated with the complicated rules.

“They seem to get bigger, thicker and more difficult to deal with every year,” said Bud Blumenstock, who spends six months of the year in Mount Chase, not far from the waterway. “We erected with these rules a kind of selective no-trespassing zone for the people of Route 11 country and Aroostook County,” he said.

Several of the 15 or so people who attended the public hearing also criticized the department for giving the public little notice of the hearing and rushing the process. Even the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife was not informed in a timely manner, said Deputy Commissioner Paul Jacques.

Rep. Rod Carr, R-Lincoln, testified that rules like those for John’s Bridge are “substantive,” not to mention controversial, and thus ought to be considered by the Legislature with the benefit of a full public debate.

Written comments on the proposed rule changes will be accepted until Friday, Aug. 29. Comments can be sent to Karin Tilberg, Department of Conservation, Statehouse Station 22, Augusta 04333, or e-mailed to karin.tilberg@maine.gov.