Allagash Wilderness Waterway hearings set

AUGUSTA – Members of a state commission working to devise a less-controversial way to run the Allagash Wilderness Waterway have rallied behind a single proposal.

Next up for the commission: Gathering public comment on the plan before submitting it to the governor and the Legislature.

On Nov. 28, commission members will hold public hearings at four locations throughout Maine on a proposal to create a 5-member “board of overseers” that will shape policies and practices within the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

Task force members gave tentative approval to the draft management structure during a meeting Thursday in Augusta.

Currently, the Allagash is operated by the state Department of Conservation like other state parks.

Under the proposal, the board would develop and implement long-range strategic plans, hire a new waterway director, be heavily involved in budgeting and raising additional money as well as hold meetings and hearings.

The five members of the board would be the commissioner of the Department of Conservation, the attorney general, the head of the State Planning Office and two members of the general public.

The two public members would be chosen from the 1st and 2nd congressional districts and must have experience in and knowledge of the Allagash’s unique history and culture as well as be “committed to the well-being” of the waterway, according to language approved by commission members.

The Department of Conservation would continue to operate the Allagash. The commission is also recommending the creation of an advisory committee that would help the board sift through the numerous issues surrounding the waterway.

Don Nicoll, a longtime Allagash user who formerly served as the chief of staff to the late U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie, said he was pleased with the proposal but anxious to hear feedback from the public.

“I think it really tackles the biggest issues,” said Nicoll, who chairs the commission. “The [board] is going to provide the visible leadership that the waterway has needed.”

Gov. John Baldacci created the task force in the spring following the latest legislative fight over access to the Allagash.

Stretching through 92 miles of river and lakes in northern Maine’s commercial forests, the federally designated “wild and scenic river” is known around the world among outdoor-lovers seeking multiday canoeing and camping trips through the wilderness.

But the recreational waterway’s 40-year existence has been marred by political conflict between those who believe the waterway must be kept as wild as possible and local residents who want access to the river.

Local residents repeatedly accuse environmental groups and state officials of seeking to deny them access to a river that is central to the regional culture and identity.

Commission members have been working for more than four months to devise a management structure that would remove some of the politics from the Allagash.

The group has held meetings at least monthly and spent several days on the water and in the Fort Kent/Allagash area this summer.

Commission members Richard Barringer and Brownie Carson created the proposed management structure, although commission members made several changes during Thursday’s meeting.

Barringer is a former state conservation commissioner and state planning director who now teaches at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service. Carson is executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Commission members will work with state staffers to complete the final wording of the proposal before releasing it publicly sometime before Thanksgiving.

The task force is slated to hold a public hearing from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Nov. 28. Commission members will be spread among four locations throughout the state, all of which will be connected by video-conferencing.

The four locations will be at the University of Maine campuses in Augusta, Orono and Fort Kent and at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.