Kingfield man gives high bid for road to Kennebec River Gorge

AUGUSTA – A Kingfield man was the top bidder for a 6-mile section of dirt road that provides the only access for rafters and kayakers to Kennebec River Gorge.

Robert Moore bid $41,500 for the road, which runs between Moxie Pond and Indian Pond and is also used to reach FPL Energy’s Harris Station, the state’s largest hydroelectric plant.

Moore would not say what he plans to do with the road, but outfitters fear that the ownership change could limit access to the storied white water that more than 60,000 rafters and kayakers use each year.

“The state of Maine is irresponsible for letting that road go,” said Joe Christopher, president of Three Rivers Whitewater in The Forks and of Raft Maine, an association of rafting outfitters.

The immediate impact may be limited. FPL Energy owns an easement to the road and said it plans to continue to allow rafting companies and the public to use it.

But rafters say they heard rumors before last week’s bidding that some potential buyers wanted to impose fees for using the road.

The road was sold at public auction Thursday and the state made the outcome available Tuesday. There were a dozen bidders, and Moore’s bid was more than twice that of his closest rival.

The property, which totals 66 acres, was taken by the state through foreclosure after the previous owner, TM Corp., stopped paying property taxes.

Ralph Knoll, deputy director of the Bureau of Parks and Lands, said the state believes that the road should remain open in accordance with a tradition of public access.

Rafting companies said that while they are reassured by FPL’s stance on the easement, they worry about what the future might hold.

“I don’t know, if [FPL] sold the land, how the next owner would apply that easement,” said Christopher. “It is as much an issue to the general public as it is to our industry.”