‘Forestry great’ Wilkins, 102, dies

AUGUSTA – Austin Wilkins, who pioneered the development of the Maine Forest Service and led the fight against the devastating forest fires of 1947, died Oct. 2 at a nursing home. He was 102.

The fires that scorched the landscape in Bar Harbor and southern Maine’s York County prompted Wilkins to develop policies to reduce the chances that such conflagrations could occur again. He was instrumental in the establishment of a forest fire compact that called for the six New England states, New York, New Brunswick and Quebec to provide mutual help in battling fires.

He assisted former Gov. Percival Baxter in the creation of Baxter State Park and served for 13 years as chairman of the Baxter State Park Authority.

A native of Somerville, Mass., Wilkins enrolled at the University of Maine in 1922 to study forestry and made the state his home.

He joined the Maine Forest Service in 1928 and was appointed commissioner 30 years later by Gov. Edmund Muskie.

Wilkins retired in 1972 after serving under 13 governors as commissioner or deputy commissioner. He was living with his daughter, Priscilla, before entering a nursing home earlier this year, said Jim Crocker, spokesman for the state Department of Conservation.

Gov. John Baldacci called Wilkins a “true leader and one of the forestry greats of Maine.”

“His quiet and thorough approach and his eloquent speaking endured him to the employees of the Maine Forest Service and gained strong respect from the forest managers in the Maine woods,” Baldacci said Monday.

Wilkins was the author of “Ten Million Acres of Timber,” a history of the Maine forestry district, as well as a book about the Civilian Conservation Corps.

He remained active in forestry matters well into his 90s.

Last year, after he turned 100, he was honored by Baldacci at the Blaine House as the first recipient of the Austin H. Wilkins Forest Stewardship Award.

Wilkins’ survivors include his daughter and a son, Austin Jr.

A funeral service will be held Thursday at the South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta.