BUILDING ON CONSERVATION

The Millinocket area, like much of Maine, lacks the type of accommodations and amenities that many tourists seek, costing the region and state valuable tourism dollars. A resort plan, which cleared its first regulatory hurdle this week, could begin to solve this problem. If, as the developer and regulators believe, such a project will draw more tourists – and their money – to the region, they should re-examine the project, say five years after it is complete, to see if it is attracting people and if more money is circulating in the local economy.

The Land Use Regulation Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved the rezoning of 244 acres on Millinocket Lake as the first step toward the building of a $65 million resort there. Local businessman Matthew Polstein proposed to build an 80-room adventure lodge, 20 resort homes, a dozen rental cabins, a conference center, seven family compounds and a 35-acre lot subdivision on the property. Mr. Polstein already operates rental cottages on the lake and the New England Outdoor Center, which offers snowmobiles tours, white-water rafting and other outdoor activities.

With the rezoning approved, Mr. Polstein must still obtain development permits from LURC as the project moves forward. He hopes to open the lodge in 2009.

According to a 2003 study of the area known as the Maine Highlands, which encompasses Greenville and Millinocket, 3 million people took day trips to the region, but less than 19 percent spent the night there. The study, by Longwoods International, a Canadian company that has done many tourism studies for the state, found that people primarily visited the area to travel through areas of scenic beauty and experience the natural environment and engage in outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing, hiking or rafting.

The company has noted in several reports that Maine lacks high-end accommodations that many travelers, especially well-heeled baby boomers, desire. Without such hotels, restaurants and outfitters, the state is losing tourism dollars that it otherwise could attract.

Mr. Polstein’s resort is the state’s first large-scale opportunity to put this theory to the test. Knowing whether such facilities do attract large numbers of visitors and encourage other businesses to develop nearby will help the state know whether to continue to pursue this option.

It is also the first development to test the notion that protecting large swaths of land will boost tourism. Mr. Polstein says one reason for proposing development on Millinocket Lake is its proximity to the West Branch and Katahdin Forest lands, which are protected from development by conservation easements.

Although conservation and ecotourism have often been controversial in Millinocket, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue praised the project for blending the region’s reliance on forestry and nature. It gives the region “new economic opportunities here that we desperately need,” he said.

On a minor note, using the supposed traditional spelling of the state’s highest mountain – Ktaadn – in the resort’s name may cause unnecessary confusion among out-of-state visitors, something Maine and the region can ill afford.

Whatever it is called, this is a project worth watching.