Plum Creek, nature tourism examined

ROCKWOOD – Visitors come to the Moosehead Lake region and support its economy through the North Woods experience – the wildlife, the remoteness, the silence, the views and the multiuse trails that attract a variety of outdoor enthusiasts.

But that unique North Woods character and the fragile economy built around it are “threatened” in some areas by development that looms on the horizon, some locals say. A group of area land and business owners gathered Monday to discuss ways development and tradition could co-exist.

Specifically, Plum Creek Inc. wants to develop about 1,000 residential house lots, sporting camps, three campgrounds and resorts over time in unorganized territory in the Moosehead Lake region. Also in the works is the proposed development by Burnt Jacket LLC of about 70 house lots in Beaver Cove with plans for another 80 lots in the future.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the areas that are most in demand as ‘authentic’ North Woods places to recreate are also in high demand as house lots,” Sandra Neily, coordinator for the Moosehead Region Futures Committee, said Monday.

The committee, formed to give local people an avenue to be heard, conducted a daylong discussion on Monday at The Birches Resort in Rockwood to identify, on large maps, those locations on private and public land that deliver quality North Woods experiences to both tourists and local residents. The committee plans to create highly detailed maps of the area’s assets that could be useful as guidelines to enterprises such as Plum Creek and Land Use Regulation Commission.

“It’s like finger-painting on land that doesn’t belong to us,” John Willard, owner of The Birches Resort said Monday, of detailing the maps. For those landowners who ask what’s in it for them, Willard relies on his own experience. He said the trails on his 11,000 acres increase the value of his property. Recreational trail corridors benefit landowners 10 times more if they do development, he said.

The approximately 45 participants representing businesses and organizations involved in outdoor recreation from The Forks to Willimantic also shared ideas on how to support smart growth, assist development to locate where it will support the area and not degrade that North Woods experience, and how to grow the “Moosehead Brand” of outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism.

“It’s remarkable to have people of diverse interests getting together in one room and realizing that there’s commonality in their goals and aspirations and that the commonality lies in identifying the importance of the various places throughout the region,” futures committee member Jim Glavine of Beaver Cove said.

Also attending was Ginger Davis, a Plum Creek consultant. She said the company planned to submit its revised concept plan to LURC by the end of next month.

Some of the ideas for growth shared on Monday included the creation of biking trails, additional hiking trails, snowmobile trails in higher elevations where snow typically is deeper and remains on the ground longer, permanent trail easements and education-based activities.

“This is a challenging moment because Plum Creek is at the end of its planning process, but this group of stakeholders in the nature-based tourism economy is just starting to map out what it needs for a healthy future,” Neily said. “While Maine and regional groups have embraced nature tourism as a valid economic goal for the North Woods, there’s been no time to really get ahead of the developers and map all the essential woods, waters, wildlife habitat and trails that are necessary to secure this outdoor industry.”

Neily said the committee will continue to listen to people’s ideas through meetings and its Web site before and after Plum Creek submits its revision.