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Membership News - November 27, 2007

1. MPGA Meetings:

• Membership - Sunday, December 2, 2007 at 9:00 AM. Super Raffle winners will be drawn. Location is the Holiday Inn on Odlin Road in Bangor.
• Board of Directors - Sunday, January 6, 2007 at 9:00 AM. Location is the Holiday Inn on Odlin Road in Bangor.

Members are welcome to attend all Board meetings.

* * * Plum Creek Public Hearings * * *

2. Plum Creek Situation

This is a truly historic Plan. There is much to be gained by everyone, even though many compromises and tradeoffs were made. Plum Creek’s most recent improvements include:

• Public Easements on 57 miles of roads;
• Additional ITS trails;
• Funds to build hiking trails;
• The means whereby guides would participate in planning and managing public recreational activities on 366,000 acres of conservation lands;
• Provisions that limited use fees by guides to the same amounts that might be charged the general public;
• Increased their donated conservation easements to nearly 100,000 acres

3. Intervenors

MPGA supports the Moosehead region concept plan proposed by Plum Creek because of the many important benefits like permanent conservation of over 400,000 acres with guaranteed public access and hunting privileges, and long term planned growth – despite our concerns over the land use policies of two conservation partners (Nature Conservancy and the Appalachian Mountain Club) and some uncertainty over future motor vehicle access on many forestry roads.

Like many other outdoor, tourism and business groups, MPGA has intervened in the LURC application process in order for our support, criticism and concerns to be heard, and to help LURC make the resulting Moosehead Lake Concept Plan the best possible outcome for all.

4. Attend a Public Hearing

This is the most important thing you can do. The public hearings for the Plum Creek Concept Plan before the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) begin this Saturday.

MPGA members will finally have a chance to make their voices heard. Now is the time to speak up and let the LURC Commission know that guides support the access, conservation and economic opportunity that this plan offers. It is extremely important to make your views known about what is needed in the Moosehead Lake region. We may not have an opportunity like this again.

We all need to think about what will be lost if this plan is not approved. For us, the long term certainty of guaranteed public access and hunting rights on as much as 441,000 acres of permanently undeveloped forestland, along with representation of guides for planning and managing the region’s recreational activities, is something very worth striving for.

Other important factors include:

• Guaranteed Hunting Access
• Guides would be guaranteed no fees for access to land & roads other that those for the general public
• 186 miles of shoreline protection
• No development on 60 ponds
• Guaranteed motor vehicle access on 57 miles of major access roads
• 81 miles guaranteed ITS snowmobile trails
• 79 miles guaranteed hiking trails with road access, trailhead parking areas, and funds to build the trails
• Strong likelihood for continued motor vehicle access on nearly 1,000 miles of forestry roads
• New customers attracted by the vast conservation landscape and public access opportunities
• New customers attracted by new commercial lodging facilities

When attending the LURC public hearings, speak from your heart. You know what to say. If you don't, here are some message points you may want to consider:

• Tell LURC why Moosehead Lake is special to you and your customers.
• Explain how you think that over 400,000 acres of permanent conservation lands with public access will benefit your guiding activities.
• Explain how you think that over 400,000 acres with guaranteed hunting privileges will benefit your guiding activities.
• Explain how your guiding activities are compatible with and depend on a sustainable working forest.
• Explain how you rely on access to and use of the working forest and the many miles of forestry roads.
• Explain how loss of hunting access in southern Maine and other states makes it vital to permanently preserve hunting access in the areas around Moosehead Lake.
• Explain how those benefits will help you maintain your guiding business and bring money into your community.
• Point out that the people of Moosehead Lake like you need to be considered by LURC when determining the fate of future generations.
• Ask LURC how else we can get 400,000 acres of permanent conservation for the Moosehead Lake region.
• Urge LURC to approve this proposal.

5. Public Hearing Schedule

The public hearing schedule for the Plum Creek application before LURC:

• Saturday, December 1, 2007 - Greenville (Greenville High School)
• Sunday, December 2, 2007 - Augusta (Augusta Civic Center)
• Saturday, December 15, 2007 - Portland (Holiday Inn By The Bay)
• Sunday, December 16, 2007 - Greenville (Greenville High School)

The public comment sessions will run from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Members may speak at the public hearing sessions only once. LURC anticipates that these sessions wills be heavily attended, and speakers will likely be limited to three minutes each. Members who wish to speak during a public hearing session may begin arriving between 9 and 10 a.m. to sign up. Speakers will be called in the order their name appears on the sign-up sheet.

6. Fellow Supporters

We are pleased to be working with a number of other Maine groups who are also speaking out in support of the benefits this plan will bring to the Moosehead Lake region. These groups include:

• Sportsman's Alliance of Maine
• Maine Bowhunters Association
• Maine Snowmobile Association
• ATV Maine
• Maine Mills
• Professional Logging Contractors
• Coalition to Preserve and Grow Northern Maine
• Somerset Economic Development Corporation
• Piscataquis County Economic Development Council
• Maine State Chamber of Commerce
• Maine Tourism Association
• Maine Woods Coalition
• Piscataquis County Commissioners

7. Same Old Extremist Opponents

Opponents to the Plan have been unrelenting in their campaign to characterize the Moosehead region as a pristine park that should be “saved” from the impacts of economic development and motorized activities. Those of us who struggle to earn a living and raise our families in this region desperately need these economic opportunities if our communities are to survive.

These opponents - who mostly hail from southern Maine or away - are using the Plum Creek plan as an excuse to wage yet another campaign to get their National Park established in the North Maine Woods. Many of the opponents are the same people who tried to stop bear hunting, trapping and efforts to save our northern deer herd.

Frankly, many of us are tired of extremist groups from out of state and southern Maine, who have never even been to the region, trying to dictate how we live and support our families.

These groups are planning to bring up to a thousand college students to these hearings to pressure LURC to reject the Plan. They probably will also run TV and newspaper ads that will use scare tactics and present the plan in a distorted way.

8. Your Future

LURC is supposed to make objective decisions for the unorganized territories but the loudest and most numerous voices often impact their decisions – even if those voices have no first hand knowledge of the area or need to earn a living.

If these outside groups are successful, they will rob us of a chance for a planned future. We know change is coming, and this is our chance for the best balance between economic prosperity and conservation. With 97% of the Plan area set aside for permanent conservation, and thoughtful, realistic economic plans for the remaining 3% of the acreage, this is the absolute best future we will ever see. If this Plan is rejected, we face a future of uncertainty, not to mention continuation of the piecemeal development that has already been going on for years.

9. What Can You Do?

Attending a Public Hearing is the most important thing you can do.

This may be our last chance, because if the Plum Creek plan is defeated by the environmental groups from southern Maine, Boston, Washington D.C. and California, scattered development will occur in the region anyway just like is has already and without an inch of land set aside for conservation, public access or hunting.

10. Additional information

LURC

http://www.maine.gov/doc/lurc/reference/resourceplans/moosehead.html

Plum Creek Plan Website

http://www.plumcreekplanmaine.com/

MPGA August 2007 Newsletter

http://www.maineguides.org/newsletters/archive/MPGA-August2007-Newsletter.pdf

Visit the MPGA Website for more news and info.