Lawmakers favor splitting Katahdin Lake parcel in two

AUGUSTA – Lawmakers grappling with a complex land deal to expand Baxter State Park appear to favor a compromise that would keep nearly 2,000 acres north of Katahdin Lake open to hunting.

Eight of 12 members of a Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry indicated some level of support Thursday for a proposal to divide the 6,015-acre Katahdin Lake parcel into two sections, one where hunting would be permitted and the other to be run as a wildlife sanctuary.

The committee is struggling to salvage a land swap that would achieve former Gov. Percival Baxter’s dream of adding the Katahdin Lake property to the park he created.

The deal would be financed entirely with private money. But in order for it to go forward, the committee must convince two-thirds of its colleagues in the Legislature to approve the sale of 7,400 acres of state-owned forests that is part of the land exchange.

The leading proposal – one of six considered Thursday – calls for splitting the parcel into two pieces north and south of the boundary line separating T3 R8 and T4 R8.

The 4,040 acres in T3 R8, which includes Katahdin Lake, would become part of Baxter State Park and be managed as a wildlife sanctuary off-limits to hunting, trapping, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles.

The northern 1,975 acres in T4 R8 would come under the control of the state Bureau of Parks and Lands, which would keep the land open to hunting and other “traditional uses.” The proposal also instructs BPL to work with representatives of Millinocket and area towns to identify other private lands available for state purchase with proceeds from sale of the public forestlands.

The committee is expected to take a final vote on the proposals next Wednesday.

A handful of lawmakers also indicated they could support deeding the entire parcel to the park with the stipulation that the northern section remain open to hunting. Two committee members said they want the parties to renegotiate another deal not involving state lands, thereby circumnavigating the Legislature and the political feud.

Five legislators, meanwhile, said they could support the original plan to transfer all 6,015 acres to Baxter with no strings attached, thereby allowing the park authority to restrict hunting.

Rep. Patrick Flood, a Winthrop Republican, was one of several lawmakers who said they preferred the original plan but realized it would not receive enough votes on the House and Senate floors.

“As a sportsman, I’m totally OK with it. But it won’t work,” Flood said.

Several lawmakers also expressed concern about how changing the terms of the deal would affect the fundraising campaign to pay for the $14 million deal. Officials with the Trust for Public Land, the conservation group leading the negotiations, have said they raised $4 million so far but likely would lose some of that money if the land is opened to hunting.

Charles Fitzgerald, who is in the process of buying the lease rights to a commercial sporting camp on the property, Katahdin Lake Wilderness Camps, urged the committee to allow all of the lands to be managed as a wildlife sanctuary.

Fitzgerald said he knows the late Gov. Baxter backed off his insistence on making the entire park a wildlife sanctuary in order to acquire later parcels added to his park. Roughly one-quarter of the park’s 204,000 acres is open to limited hunting and trapping.

“But today we are here with something a little different,” Fitzgerald said. “Today we are here with something to honor his legacy.”

David Soucy, director of BPL, said the bureau would prefer that the entire parcel be transferred to Baxter State Park. While Soucy did not oppose outright the idea of deeding the northern portion to the bureau, he said he and others are concerned about having to manage a small piece of land that is isolated from other BPL lands.

While meant to pacify the concerns of pro-hunting lawmakers, the compromise doesn’t satisfy the leader of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, George Smith.

Smith objected to being “kicked out of the best piece of land” and being isolated on the 2,000 northern acres.