However, they're not entirely convinced that the massive development plan proposed by Plum Creek protects the natural landscapes and close communities that keep them living in this part of rural Maine.

In hopes of influencing the future of their area, a group of local residents have created a new group called the Moosehead Region Futures Committee, with the goal of working alongside Plum Creek - not to stop the 975-lot project, but to improve it.

"I'm not anti-development," John Willard, proprietor of The Birches and a resident of Rockwood, said Tuesday, citing his own, already permitted, subdivision project.

However, Willard has concerns about Plum Creek's concept plan for 426,000 acres, and would like to see portions rewritten to better protect some beautiful views and ecologically sensitive areas.

Such suggestions could include clustering housing developments to protect wild areas of value to fishermen, or moving large developments, such as a proposed resort, closer to town, where they could benefit rather than compete with local retail businesses, he said.

"We think that Moosehead Lake is a gem and that it needs to be developed cautiously," Liz Munster, a local real estate broker, said Tuesday.

Community leaders have already given Plum Creek's plan their full support, even going so far as to stake the future of local institutions like the school system and hospital on Plum Creek's vision, during testimony at a Maine Land Use Recreation Commission meeting earlier this spring.

But members of the new group worry that community leaders aren't thinking big enough by accepting the company's offer as is. The region could have a profitable future in nature-based tourism if development is "done right," and local residents should think 10, 50, 100 years into the future as they consider a project of this magnitude, said Sandra Neily of Greenville, a former white-water rafting guide and conservation advocate who is serving as the group's spokeswoman.

No one has ever conducted a formal inventory of wild areas and their tourism potential, so locals' knowledge about the Moosehead region landscape and culture may not have been available to Plum Creek as it wrote its plan, Neily said.

Those centuries of collective knowledge are being offered now, she said.

Members of the fledgling group are concerned that they could be perceived as opponents to the Plum Creek plan - like the Natural Resources Council of Maine, which announced its position late last week.

Instead, the committee hopes to give voice to those local people who have suggestions, but who also fear that constructive criticism of the company's plan could be misunderstood as NIMBYism or ingratitude, Neily said. NIMBY stands for "not in my back yard."

And it's not just about Plum Creek, she said, citing other development projects being proposed for the region. Residents from all around Moosehead Lake need to work together to identify and protect the resources that they value, she said.

Jim Lehner, spokesman for Plum Creek in Maine, said Tuesday that he looks forward to hearing from local people, but that the formal LURC process is the "proper channel" for that discussion. The company expects the plan to evolve and change as it is debated in a series of public meetings over the next year, he said.

"We certainly don't think that we've submitted the perfect plan," Lehner said. "We're interested in public input."

For more information, contact Sandra Neily at 695-2754, sneily@gwi.net, or P.O. Box 102, Greenville, Maine 04441. The next meeting of the Moosehead Region Futures Committee is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at the Rockwood Community Meeting Room.
"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Wednesday, June 29, 2005 edition of the Bangor Daily NEWS and is used here with permission."