State sets new hearings on revisions to Allagash waterway plan

FORT KENT – The Maine Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands has scheduled another round of hearings on the proposed revisions to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway management plan for a memorandum of agreement.

The memorandum is a revision of the 1999 plan for the waterway.

Public comment will be accepted at the three meetings, and written comment can be submitted until April 28.

The new hearings will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, at the Fort Kent town office; Tuesday, April 4 in Bangor at the Department of Transportation conference room; and Tuesday, April 11 in Augusta at the DOC Bolton Hill Facility.

The new hearings were announced Sunday when Department of Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan and BPL Director David Soucy met with members of the Friends of the Allagash and northern Maine residents about the plan.

Proposed changes to a 1999 plan have created some furor among northern Maine residents who are afraid of losing even more access to the waterway than they already have.

The DOC held a series of five meetings last fall, but publicity about the meetings failed to reach many people interested in the issues involved. The problems brought on the re-invigoration of the Friends of the Allagash, a northern Maine grass-roots organization, to fight for northern Maine rights.

The proposed revisions to the AWW management plan were developed last summer.

“We have seen continued interest in the proposed revisions to this management plan,” McGowan wrote in a prepared release. “We want to make sure that everyone’s voice has been heard before revisions are finalized.”

Friends of the Allagash has submitted a 15-page document of proposed changes to Tim Hall of the Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Melford Pelletier, a spokesman for Friends of the Allagash, said the group is concerned that the revision process for changes in the AWW plan was “conducted improperly,” and is more about politics and special interests and not what would work best “for river travelers coming to northern Maine to enjoy the AWW.”

Written comments to the memorandum of agreement may be sent to Tim Hall, regional manager, Maine Department of Conservation, 106 Hogan Road, Bangor 04401, by fax to 941-4222 or by e-mail to tim.hall@maine.gov.