CLICKBACK ON PLUM CREEK

This week’s ClickBack, the BDN’s interactive feature that solicits Editorial Page reader comments, seeks your thoughts on what the future holds for two forces at work in Maine: paper mills and recreational development like Plum Creek’s proposal for the Moosehead Lake area. We also want to know where you think the U.S. should focus its military operations in the Middle East.

To participate, go to bangordailynews.com and click on the ClickBack logo. If you have not yet registered to comment, you should be assured that doing so will not lead to a flood of spam in your e-mail inbox; the BDN does not share addresses with outside interests.

Do paper mills in Maine have a bright or a bleak future?

Katahdin Paper Co.’s mill in Millinocket is facing possible closure because of the high price of oil. Employment has been steadily declining in Maine mills, yet production has increased, thanks to automation. Should Maine government work to sustain paper mills? Or should market forces dictate what happens? How would you counsel a young man or woman considering a career in a paper mill? Is this the lifetime employment it once was or should young people look elsewhere?

Where should the line be drawn on Plum Creek’s development plan?

Plum Creek, the Seattle-based timber company and the largest private landowner in the United States, has gone in a different direction from Maine’s paper mills, by seeking to sell some of its land for housing and resorts. The Land Use Regulation Commission is weighing Plum Creek’s application to rezone much of its holdings around Moosehead Lake to allow 975 house lots and two resorts. Should LURC turn down the application? Or should it insist the company scale back its proposal, perhaps dropping its development proposals for the east side of the lake at Lily Bay? Or should LURC approve it as is?

American troop deaths in Afghanistan topped those in Iraq last month – should U.S. policy change?

The British have committed to sending more troops to Afghanistan; should the United States do the same? Should troops be moved from Iraq to Afghanistan? Does the United States have important interests in Afghanistan? Or should Iraq continue to be the focus?

To answer these questions – and ask your own- go to bangordailynews.com and look for the ClickBack logo. As always, the BDN will publish some reader comments on the above questions and topics on Friday’s OpEd page.