The recent articles concerning the decline in the use of the “crown jewels” of Maine – Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park, and the Allagash Wilderness Waterway – are alarming.

The 70 percent usage drop of the waterway is the most shocking. This drop is over three times that of the other parks. Even the most casual of observers would have to question if the type of management system the waterway is operating under is being effective.

The state’s explanations – aging baby boomers needing softer amenities and the younger generation being absorbed by electronic media – sound reasonable. However, a more detailed review might reveal something else.

In the last six years, the usage of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe Area has had only a decrease of less than 9 percent, to 127,000. The number of long-term hikers on the Appalachian Trail has remained steady. The rugged Northern Forest Canoe Trail has opened from New York through northern New England and into Canada, and the Maine Woods Forever organization has opened the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail. The public is still seeking wilderness and extended canoe trips. If these hardy wilderness-based activities are attracting the public, why are they not coming to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway?

The drop in waterway usage corresponds exactly with the development of an industrial concrete dam right in the middle of the waterway. The increase in the number of motorized access points, such as John’s Bridge, the governor’s abandonment of the River Drivers Agreement, and the promise of more industrial-style bridges all occurred as usage dropped.

The state’s 1999 management plan admits that the waterway is not being managed for its wilderness character, and now new state laws for the waterway are in direct conflict with its federal “wild” designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The state’s policies are also based upon the principle that the existence of the waterway is to attract more day users and paying tourists and not based upon the long-term protection of a national wilderness resource.

The state continues to point to the Daigle study, which indicated that over 90 percent of Allagash users were satisfied with their “recreational” waterway experience. The problem with a study such as this is that it doesn’t account for all the people who may have stayed away because the waterway has lost much of its wilderness character – the quality that makes it special.

The state has continued to ignore a key point in the law that established the waterway, that is, to “develop the maximum wilderness character of the waterway.” The drop in usage figures may indicate that those who seek out and go to such places perceive that the waterway’s wilderness character is not being maintained, enhanced and developed. The state’s policies to actively remove the wilderness character from the Allagash Wilderness Waterway have proven to be seriously flawed not only for long-term conservation but also for public usage.

Rollin Thurlow is president of the Allagash Alliance Group.