SEARSPORT – Developing low-impact, recreational uses for Sears Island such as a network of trails and an Indian cultural education center could help transform the area into a tourist destination, Department of Conservation officials believe.

On Thursday night, department Commissioner Pat McGowan and David Soucy, director of the state’s Bureau of Parks and Lands, spoke to a town committee looking into uses of the 941-acre, state-owned island.

Even though the state Department of Transportation currently administers the island and has reserved 280 acres for possible future transportation uses, McGowan and Soucy urged the committee to ignore obstacles and develop a vision for the island.

“There’s been so much negative energy focused on this beautiful place,” he said.

“You’ve got to stop looking over your shoulder at the state,” and instead work at deciding what they want to see on the island, Soucy told committee members.

Both McGowan and Soucy suggested the DOT might even back away from its claim to the northwest quadrant of the island if the right plan were proposed.

Previous DOT commissioners essentially told other state agencies, “Hands off Sears Island,” McGowan said, when the state was pursuing a cargo port there. That attitude no longer dominates, he said.

In fact, McGowan said, he was asked to attend the meeting by DOT Commissioner David Cole, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Jack Cashman and Gov. John Baldacci.

“In retrospect, that was the wrong idea for Sears Island,” McGowan said of the one-use view.

“I wouldn’t look at it as a fractured island,” he said, urging the committee to not be hampered by fears of conflict with the DOT’s future development of part of the island.

In answer to a question from a committee member, McGowan said the department was interested in owning some or all of the island.

“We’re open to any thoughts,” he said, and offered the department’s assistance in planning.

“I think it has some great opportunities for recreational uses,” McGowan said.

Soucy said the island lends itself to a network of trails, with its “incredible vistas.” With the area seeing an influx of retirees and with the baby boom generation aging, he said, the trails could be handicapped-accessible.

“We have to make these opportunities available for anybody,” Soucy said.

The island would be a logical addition to the Maine Island Trail, he said, where primitive camping and day use are encouraged.

McGowan read off a list of possible uses for the island, including camping, nature preserve, conference and wildlife center, but he and Soucy seemed most enthusiastic about a collaboration with the Penobscot Nation and other Indian tribes in Maine.

“When I think of Penobscot Bay, I think of the Penobscots,” Soucy said.

Public interest in American Indian culture is strong, he said, and he described a development scenario that included a cultural interpretative center run by the tribes, along with a network of trails and a boat launching area.

“You make it a destination by making something special,” Soucy said.

The island could be linked with nearby Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs and Searsport’s Moose Point State Park as well as with the planned observatory on the new Waldo-Hancock Bridge, he said. Linking the island with shopping opportunities in Searsport and nearby towns could make the area a tourist draw, he said.

“You become a destination instead of a stop on the way to Acadia National Park,” Soucy said.

With state funds limited, McGowan and Soucy said a nonprofit citizens group – similar to the Friends of Fort Knox – could form to raise funds for maintenance of the island’s recreational amenities. It also could manage the island.

The person greeting visitors at the gate of Fort Knox State Park is likely to be a volunteer with the Friends of Fort Knox, Soucy said.

“They’re actually running the place,” he said. The state would retain ownership, but empower such a group to manage the island through a memorandum of understanding, he said.

Committee members urged McGowan to seek having the island transferred from DOT to Department of Conservation, but he balked, saying it would be like accepting an invitation to someone’s home and then trying to evict them.

“DOT is the steward of that land right now,” McGowan said.