FOREST LEGACY FORMULA

The state this week touted the completion of two projects made possible by federal land preservation funds, but it is in danger of not being able to complete a similar conservation deal near Bangor.

President Bush included two Maine projects in his list of 31 to be funded through the Forest Legacy program. However, when the Senate finalized its list the Lower Penobscot Forest Project, which would protect more than 42,500 acres near the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge, was removed.

Senate and House negotiators, who will soon meet to reconcile their differing versions of the Forest Legacy funding bill, should fund the president’s list of projects.

In the last decade nearly 1 million acres in Maine have been conserved with Forest Legacy funds. The federal program enables the state and private entities to purchase development rights on forest land while allowing logging to continue. This benefits those who rely on the woods for work and those who use them for recreation. Both are important to the Maine economy.

On Tuesday, the state announced the completion of two more projects funded in part by the Forest Legacy. In 2002, The Nature Conservancy bought land and an easement from Great Northern Paper Co. as part of an agreement to restart the paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket. The Department of Conservation has now taken over management of the easement on more than 195,000 acres west of Baxter State Park.

The state also accepted more than 7,700 acres around the headwaters of the Machias River from The Conservation Fund. The purchase will protect Atlantic salmon habitat and allow for more recreational use.

This year, the state has the top-ranked project on the president’s Forest Legacy list, a plan to add 3,688 acres to Grafton Notch State Park. The land is surrounded by the park and includes a portion of Old Speck Mountain and a major snowmobile trail. The Trust for Public Land has negotiated an agreement with the landowners to buy the land, which it intends to turn over to the state. The president’s budget includes $2 million for Grafton Notch.

The other Maine proposal on the president’s list is the Lower Penobscot Forest project, an effort to protect more than 42,500 acres near the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge. The Nature Conservancy and Forest Society of Maine are negotiating with private landowners to buy two parcels in Great Pond and Amherst. Bangor Daily News publisher Richard J. Warren serves on the Forest Society board.

The land is the largest undeveloped forest block in central Maine in an area where new housing developments are being built at an increasingly rapid pace. The president’s budget includes $2.2 million for this project, which is expected to cost $15 million.

The Senate, however, removed this project and three others from the list and replaced them, in three instances, with ones in the home states of senators on the Appropriations Committee. The president’s list was compiled by a committee of regional Forest Legacy officials and state foresters. Projects are ranked based on their quality.

Because of Maine’s success in preserving land for wildlife and recreational use while keeping it open to forestry, it has been a large recipient of Forest Legacy funds, according to federal officials.

The best projects, not pet projects, should be funded.