Moosehead’s natural beauty, Lily Bay at stake

The Moosehead Lake region is one of Maine’s crown jewels – a spectacularly beautiful area of lakes, forests and wildlife where Maine people have gone to camp, fish, paddle, hunt, spend time with their families and get away from the stress of everyday life for generations.

Over the next several months, Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) will face its biggest decision yet: whether or not to sacrifice the spectacular natural character of Lily Bay and Moosehead Lake for thousands of high-priced seasonal homes. LURC’s charter clearly states that protecting the North Woods’ undeveloped character is its most important job.

LURC staff have recommended a list of changes in Plum Creek’s proposed development around Moosehead Lake, but there remain two major problems with the plan that still need attention: there is still too much development and there should not be development at Lily Bay.

The nation’s largest commercial landholder is pushing LURC to rezone more than 400,000 acres of the company’s forestry land around Moosehead Lake. As a Real Estate Investment Trust, Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Co.’s goal is to create a development that would be the largest in Maine’s history – so large, it would be the equivalent of constructing two or three additional towns in the Moosehead region north of Greenville.

At more than 2,000 houses, hotel rooms, condominiums, cabins or mansions, plus commercial districts, the number of subdivision lots and resort units is unchanged by the staff recommendations. In a step backward, LURC staff also has recommended allowing even more development in Brassua Lake and Rockwood Village after 30 years.

Development at this massive scale threatens many wildlife species and would forever change what makes the region unique. People come from around the world to visit Moosehead to experience its spectacular natural beauty and connect with nature in a landscape that is unlike any place east of the Mississippi.

Maine residents and visitors have plenty of other places to go for sprawling resort life and luxury development. Turning the Moosehead region into Anyplace, U.S.A. would devastate the unique quality of place that is key to the region’s current and future economic health.

Our other major concern is Lily Bay, where staff recommended fewer acres be developed, but would still allow 404 housing units that would destroy the natural character of the east side of Moosehead Lake. That much development there would put the already-threatened Canada lynx at further risk, and would diminish Lily Bay State Park’s renowned value for quiet recreation, accessible to all. Instead of dark skies and peaceful islands, Lily Bay visitors would be greeted with resort lights, hundreds of motorboats, boom boxes, lawn mowers and traffic.

We strongly believe that LURC’s seven commissioners should not approve the proposal unless the two most important issues – total number of units and development at Lily Bay – are addressed. While the LURC staff have addressed many of the details of the proposal, such as removing development from the north shore of Long Pond, the commission should also reduce the total number of development units and delete the development at Lily Bay.

LURC commissioners and staff spent weeks in December and January listening to the testimony of more than 100 experts on conservation, economics and tourism, including scientists from state and federal natural resource agencies and organizations. The hearing brought to light many of the loopholes, special rules and outrageous provisions that Plum Creek buried in the details of its proposal, and which LURC staff recommendations have largely addressed.

Experts are not the only people who have spoken out.

Hundreds of Maine residents braved the winter freeze to speak at LURC’s four public hearings. In fact, Maine people feel so passionately about Plum Creek’s proposal that before the public comment period closed, the commission received more than 2,500 letters expressing concern about Plum Creek’s plan. Fewer than 100 letters voiced support.

What is left to LURC commissioners to answer next week is a big question: Should Maine sacrifice the spectacular natural character of the Moosehead region to allow Plum Creek to develop thousands of high-end seasonal homes?

Now it’s time for the LURC commissioners to look at the big picture in a way only they can, and to recommend a significant decrease in the amount of development, including removing it altogether from Lily Bay.

Future generations of Maine people are counting on them.

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