Planning for island’s use enters new phase

SEARSPORT – After months of back-burner work, planning for Sears Island will begin in earnest again.

A town committee charged with identifying acceptable uses for the 941-acre, state-owned island has published its report after more than a year of work. That report is expected to be the starting point for a statewide planning effort.

Already, one group with a reach beyond Searsport has weighed in on the island question.

Protect Sears Island, a nongovernment group made up of residents of upper Penobscot Bay towns, including some who also serve on the town committee, and representatives of statewide environmental groups, has issued its own recommendations for the island.

And on Nov. 5, the Penobscot Bay Alliance, Islesboro Island Trust and the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club will sponsor a symposium on the question, “Are there costs to not protecting Sears Island?”

The state Department of Transportation, which administers the state’s ownership of the island and which proposed creation of the town committee, will send Kathy Fuller, director of DOT’s environmental office, to meet with the committee at the town public safety building at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The state has not yet committed to a process by which statewide comment on uses of the island will be gathered, DOT’s Fred Michaud said Thursday, but there are technical and policy groups within state government considering Sears Island.

The 80-plus page town committee report traces the island history from 3,500 years ago to the 1980s when the island was linked to the mainland by a causeway in anticipation of building a cargo port there.

The port was never built, nor was an aluminum smelter, chemical plant, oil refinery and nuclear power plant, all of which were proposed at various times during the 1970s and ’80s.

The committee, made up of two dozen residents representing diverse views, agreed to work to “preserve and improve” Sears Island as “one of the town’s most important assets.”

Among its primary conclusions are that any use should:

. Maintain beach access for public use.

. Benefit the town and surrounding region both aesthetically and economically.

. Generate sufficient revenue for maintenance, and tax revenue for the town.

The committee also concluded that should an acceptable proposal be made, the land should be leased by the state with enforceable conditions that public access be guaranteed. The report also notes that no more than 20 percent of developable land be affected “to preserve the present geo/ecological environment.”

The “acceptable” uses identified by the committee include:

. Conference, education, living history centers and a state parks regional office.

. Hiking and bicycling trails, special permit camping, picnic areas, horseback riding, winter sports, kayaking and boating.

. Low-impact lodging, research facility, boatbuilding, shops and restaurants.

. Observation tower, cruise ship and schooner landing area.

The Protect Sears Island plan is similar, but with a more narrow focus, suggesting as uses:

. An environmental education campus similar to Chewonki, but with a curriculum specific to Penobscot Bay.

. A cultural center depicting the history of the region’s American Indians in the Penobscot Bay area.

. A Penobscot Bay heritage center that augments Searsport’s Penobscot Marine Museum.

The Sears Island symposium, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Troy A. Howard Middle School in Belfast, will examine the island “through the lens of ecological economics – including goods, services, ongoing research and monitoring of Sears Island and Penobscot Bay ecosystems.”

For more information about registering, call Leanne Krudner at 761-5616 or e-mail maine.chapter@sierraclub.org.