Baxter adopts new policy No more than 20% of campsites to be allotted 1st day

BAXTER STATE PARK- Getting a prime cabin on the shore of Daicey Pond shouldn’t require standing in the bitter cold next year.

In fact, only two of the 11 historic log cabins will be allocated for any given day during the January 2005 opening day festivities. The Baxter State Park Authority on Friday approved a new policy stating that no more than 20 percent of sites at a campground will be allotted per night during the park’s opening day. The other 80 percent should be saved for later registrations, the authority unanimously decided during its morning meeting in the park.

Authority members Attorney General Steven Rowe, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Roland “Dan” Martin, and Maine Forest Service Chief Alec Giffen meet several times each year to make policy decisions for the 204,733-acre park, which is independent of the state park system.

Last year, the authority voted to implement a new rolling reservation system, whereby camping reservations at Baxter would be allotted month by month as the year goes on, to alleviate the tremendous pressure that reservations place on park staff and to ease concerns among some that the current opening day event is unfair to those who can’t get away from work or travel all the way to Millinocket.

In the interests of tradition, however, the authority decided to keep a limited opening day on Jan. 18, 2005, when individuals can make just a few reservations each.

Members of the park’s volunteer advisory council spent the past few weeks reviewing statistics from January 2004, and learned that as many as 60 percent of the sites at popular campgrounds were allocated on opening day – despite the fact that the 267 people who made reservations at park headquarters in January represent just 1 percent of the total people who camp in the park each year.

The 20 percent restriction will reassure people that the opening day won’t overwhelm the new system, said Paul Labbe of Scarborough, who has headed a subcommittee on reservation issues.

Rowe agreed. “Without the limit, it doesn’t work, and you have a lot of disappointed people,” he said.

Park staff now have eight months to get people as acclimated to the new system as possible, though in reality, it will likely take two or three years to completely change people’s behavior, Labbe said.

“I have no doubt this upcoming year will be interesting,” he said. “Only time will tell.”

In other business:

? Park Director Irvin “Buzz” Caverly Jr. explained the maintenance work scheduled for Sandy Stream Pond and Stump Pond this summer. The park staff intends to install speed bumps, fill in illegal trails and designate “wildlife-only zones” because the two ponds have become too popular among moose watchers.

Last year, more than 10,000 people visited Sandy Stream, which is the larger of the ponds at 13.2 acres, Caverly said.

The moose have changed their feeding habits, parking areas are congested, and last summer moose charged, kicked and licked overzealous tourists in isolated incidents, he said.

The director hopes that the new “escape routes for the moose,” where people are not permitted, will keep the animals from feeling threatened, and that park staff can encourage wildlife watchers to consider the 22 other “moose ponds” in the park.

? Authority members unanimously approved a budget of slightly more than $3 million for fiscal year 2005, a slight decline from this year. Increased gate fees for out-of-staters (Maine-registered vehicles may enter the park free of charge) and higher camping fees across the board – both of which were implemented last year – are expected to raise about $900,000 in FY05. The fees, combined with good performance by the park’s investments, should keep withdrawals from the $58 million trust fund low, the park staff said Friday.

“No one can say that there’s a lot of fat in this budget,” Rowe said. “I think [park founder] Gov. [Percival] Baxter would have been pleased with this.”

? Commercial users of the park, including guide services, moose safaris and summer camps, won’t face any new regulations this year, authority members decided. A volunteer subcommittee spent the past several years studying the impact of commercial groups, and estimated that they account for only 2 percent of the park’s total users, said Frank Clukey of East Millinocket, who headed the group.

“We have hot spots we’ll keep an eye on,” Clukey said. “[But] we’re not trying to restrict use. … We’re just trying to get a handle on what the use is.”