Maintaining Moosehead Lake region’s character

Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

These six words capture what’s at stake for the Moosehead Lake region today. We all know of examples where development has ruined forever the unique character of special places. The Natural Resources Council of Maine, Moosehead area residents, and people who come from near and far to visit Moosehead don’t want what is special about this place to be destroyed.

Moosehead Lake has been treasured by Mainers for generations – for its unspoiled lakeshores, vast stretches of wildlife habitat, and breathtaking scenery. There is no place like it.

That is why Maine people have raised concerns about Plum Creek’s massive development for Moosehead. We have only one chance to get it right. Seattle-based Plum Creek will come and go, but the people of Maine will live with the decision made forever. And this decision will set an important precedent for the North Woods.

Plum Creek has transformed itself from a timber company to a real estate investment company since buying 905,000 acres in Maine. The $5 billion company purchased its Maine land for less than $200 per acre in 1998, knowing that it was zoned for forestry uses, not development. The company’s proposal to rezone 408,000 acres to erect 2,300 dwelling units, and a series of commercial developments, would destroy Moosehead’s unique character and make it more like everywhere else.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine carefully analyzed the details of Plum Creek’s latest proposal – more than 1,000 pages long. We continue to listen to people who live in the Moosehead Lake region and across the state.

We have deliberately stepped back to ask ourselves: Has Plum Creek made essential changes to its proposal to protect what is unique about the Moosehead Lake region? Will this plan provide an opportunity for sustainable economic development for local people?

The answer is, “No.” Plum Creek’s plan still proposes too much development, and it would cause too much harm to the character and special qualities of the Moosehead Lake region.

In response to pressure from those who know and love Moosehead, Plum Creek removed proposed house lots from some of the remote areas that were totally inappropriate for development. The company clearly got the message about some portions of its plan, but other parts still raise serious concerns. Specific problem areas:

? We continue to believe that the proposed resort at Lily Bay and the associated subdivision developments would permanently damage the unspoiled, natural character of the east side of Moosehead Lake, and would harm wildlife populations and important habitat, especially for the threatened Canada lynx. In addition, we believe that the amount of development at the proposed Moose Mountain resort goes far beyond the environmental capacity of that area.

? We have strong reservations about some of the specific areas Plum Creek wants to have rezoned. For example, we believe that house lots on the undeveloped north shore of Long Pond and the proposed locations of lots on the ecologically sensitive Burnham Pond are unacceptable.

? The total amount of development remains staggering. Although the plan is described as having 975 house lots, the actual number of new “accommodation units” is more than 2,300 once you add in the resort units and other lots in the plan. That’s almost twice the number of structures in Greenville today.

And, as before, too much of the proposed commercial development is far from existing communities. We share the view of others concerned about the harm it would do to locally owned businesses.

Plum Creek has talked a lot about conservation in the plan, but has not mentioned the major loopholes in the conservation easements. Mining, road building, septic tank waste spreading, and unsustainable logging would be allowed, for example. These same terms cover both the easement required by LURC, and the easement on lands that are part of the company’s proposed $35 million conservation deal. These serious deficiencies must be fixed to ensure real protection for the forests around Moosehead.

We must not make mistakes today that we will regret tomorrow. We do not want future residents and visitors to the Moosehead Lake region to wonder why the special character of the area was not protected on our watch.

NRCM will remain opposed to Plum Creek’s proposal unless Plum Creek truly addresses the concerns expressed by Maine people. I urge readers to view maps and read more about Plum Creek’s proposed development at www.nrcm.org.

Moosehead Lake is our heritage, a special place we have inherited from those who came before us. It is our responsibility to pass on to our children and grandchildren a Moosehead region that retains the special qualities that are so cherished today.

Brownie Carson is executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.