Maine’s largest private landowner and state officials are expected to sign an agreement soon protecting thousands of acres of deer wintering habitat. The plan is important for what it does, impressive in what it says about the parties and significant in what it portends for the future of wildlife and forest management.

The Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) is the zoning authority for 10.5 million acres of unorganized territory. Five years ago, it established a deer wintering study committee. The Great Northern Paper Co. was one industrial player that took the committee’s recommendations to heart.

The group looked at the history of these once controversial regulations (they were fought and upheld in 1981 by the state Supreme Court), the limited results that almost certainly follow when actions are taken reluctantly and under duress, and wisely decided that the better way to achieve wildlife management objectives was through long-term cooperative agreements between the state and major landowners.

As a result of the proposals from that study, one smaller agreement has been signed, and others are in the works, but the pact with Great Northern was precisely what the committee had in mind. It specifically addresses what the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW) has identified as the need for wintering habitat in three areas of the West Branch area of the Penobscot River totaling 511,000 acres.

The state gets what it needs: the 26,000 acres of designated deer yard, almost double the 14,382 acres in that region now. Deer need sheltered, forested areas and food to survive the long Maine winter. Providing that is in everyone’s interest.

The paper company benefits. For the next 15 years, the state won’t be back asking for more wintering habitat for deer in that area. GNP can put this issue behind it, concentrate on planning now that the regulations are fixed and focus its resources on other projects. Good corporate citizenship also promotes good will.

This agreement is a breakthrough, for all parties. It reveals a flexible, understanding side of state regulators that is not seen often enough. It is an act of enlightened self-interest by Great Northern. It demonstrates that with the opportunity for progress and a constructive environment for negotiation, public and corporate interests can be served more effectively by cooperation than by conflict.