| Plum Creek Plan Newsletter |
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Coalition to Preserve and Grow Northern Maine Coalition Newsletter - Issue Number 78 Chair: Jim Batey, Somerset Economic Development Corporation Treasurer: Diane Bartley, DKB Catering, Greenville Secretary: Carolann Ouellette, Moose Point Tavern, Jackman LURC: Development Chapter LURC began the process of updating the CLUP in 2004 and has hosted panels on topics including nature- based tourism; current and future challenges facing nature-based recreation industries; regional planning for coastal islands; wind energy resources; consumptive water use; forest resources and land ownership; conservation easements; facilities and services provided to the unorganized territories; and economic development. In addition, guest speakers have addressed LURC on topics such as wildlife and fisheries resources; the 1990 lake management program; historical and cultural resources; natural areas in the jurisdiction; and aquatic invasive species. The Development Chapter is the principal tool for evaluating trends and changes in the jurisdiction and developing appropriate responses. A draft of Chapter 4, the Development Chapter, of the 2007 CLUP will discuss trends in transportation; residential development; public facilities and services; and commercial development. It will also evaluate whether existing patterns of development are consistent with LURC’s broad goals and recommend refinements to the Commission’s approach. The draft of Chapter 4 will be considered at the LURC February meeting on February 7, 2007 in Augusta.* Due to the volume of information, LURC is not likely get through all of the Chapter 4 data at this meeting and will continue the conversation about development trends and patterns in the months to come. *This meeting is open to the public. 2007 100-Mile Wilderness Sled Dog Race The race is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the Inland Fisheries & Wildlife parking area in Greenville. Come early and watch the excitement as 25 teams of canine athletes and mushers prepare to head out on the trail from Greenville to Brownville and back! For more information please contact Amy Dugan at 695-3754 or info@mtnridge.com. You can also get more information at www.greenvilleme.com. OP Ed – Maine's established culture of opposition costs opportunities Last week, Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission made a decision that surprised a lot of folks. It voted 6-1 to reject its own staff recommendation to approve rezoning about 1,000 acres to build a 90- megawatt wind farm on two western Maine mountains. The vote was a major setback for those who believe the country must embark on a serious program of energy conservation while pursuing the development of indigenous, alternative fuels. Wind power is one of those alternatives, as is biomass. Yet almost every one of these projects has run into a buzz saw of opposition from a variety of sources. It seems there isn’t a project proposed in the state today — whether it’s a residential subdivision, a group home, an energy or industrial facility, a bottled water plant, a development in the North Woods, or a piece of public infrastructure — that doesn’t become the target of neighborhood protest or the focus of some group’s latest fundraising campaign. Here in Maine we have institutionalized a culture of opposition at the expense of creating a society of opportunity. We have reached a point where people believe they have a right to object to anything they don’t like anywhere near them; and they’ve come to define "near" as including the whole state of Maine. But not everyone has the same responsibility to make this state work. By that I mean local organizing and vociferous opposition is not the same as developing public policies that generate the tax dollars necessary for us to provide the services a relatively poor state like Maine requires or to make our government and our communities function well. In December 2005, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s newly created New England Public Policy Center held a conference on energy policy. Henry Lee, the director of the environment and natural resources program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, argued that public officials have given too much weight to local opposition and not enough to the regional and statewide benefits of new facilities. "This ‘there should never be a loser’ concept is not going to work if we are ever going to get these facilities sited," Lee said. No, he wasn’t being hard-hearted. He was being realistic. The stakes for America today are enormous, particularly so since Sept. 11. It is sheer insanity to continue funneling billions of dollars annually to some of the most repressive regimes in the world because we cannot — or will not — wean ourselves off our petroleum dependency. That’s one face of institutionalized opposition — on the energy front. There is another, and it can be seen in the marriage of ideology and money, especially over issues of development in Maine’s North Woods and the role that fundraising — much of it from out-of-state donors — plays in shaping public policy in Maine. I can recall few campaigns as vituperative as the one now being waged against Plum Creek’s proposal for development in the Moosehead Lake area, a campaign replete with expensive television ads and sophisticated direct mail appeals. It brings to mind a different environmental battle that took place 10 years ago. The issue was dioxin. The question turned on which control strategy for paper mill discharges into Maine’s rivers was best for the environment: elemental chlorine-free or totally chlorine-free. When it appeared that the Working Study Group, appointed by then-Gov. Angus King, was not going to endorse the TCF approach, six environmental groups quit the study group process entirely. Their walkout led me to pen the following, which was part of a broader essay. I’ve replaced the word "dioxin" with "Plum Creek." "Plum Creek has come to represent an ongoing battle for political relevance within the environmental movement and the public interest sector, and between different organizations within those spheres. It has become a poster child, an emotional issue around which membership drives focus and organizations prove their worth to staff and board while providing a vehicle for ongoing fundraising efforts. Of course, it is also about core beliefs. But now, 25 [actually 35] years after the birth of the environmental and public interest movements, they, too, in large measure, have become just like every other organization: budgets to meet, members to please, a board to keep satisfied. In short, a need to maintain their own institutional momentum just like everyone else. "Except, the media and the public have accorded these groups a level of credibility that shields their actions from the same scrutiny given other players in the public policy arena. The assumption is made that they have no ax to grind, that they’re neutral players acting in the public interest only. This fits neatly with a well-crafted image that since the groups have no visible economic gain they can’t be operating with anything other than the purest of motives. "The reality is far more complicated than that." What was true 10 years ago is even truer today. Here in Maine we have institutionalized the role that opposition plays in the setting of public policy. Yet rarely do we seek to understand the organizational dynamics that underlie so much of this opposition. There is the natural conservative nature of Mainers, which makes us suspicious of and resistant to change. There is also the role that newcomers play in seeking to maintain what they value now that they’ve moved here. And part of the tension is driven by the economic disparities that often exist between wealthier in-migrants and longtime residents. When it comes to emotionally charged debates over how Maine’s natural beauty and resources are to be developed, we should not be surprised that so much fundraising focuses on parts of the state where the actual development is not happening or in urban areas of the northeast where the pitch is all about saving a piece of wilderness in which the benefactor doesn’t happen to live or need to make a living. I raise these points not because I have the silver bullet that will solve Maine’s myriad problems, but to stimulate a conversation about what is going on when opposition and not opportunity becomes the prevailing characteristic of our time. Protecting a precious legacy is important. Being good environmental stewards is equally important. But when opposition shadows almost every form of development, something is seriously out of balance. Sam Zaitlin of Saco is a public policy consultant and former chairman of Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection. He also has served as chairman of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and currently serves as a member of the Maine Turnpike Authority. Lawsuit Over Allagash Access The U.S. Department of the Interior limited motor vehicle access points to just two places when the 92- mile waterway was named a wild river area, according to the complaint. But a law passed by the Legislature last year required the state to maintain 11 points along the waterway for motor vehicle access. The lawsuit alleges that the state is degrading the wilderness canoeing experience along the waterway; violates federal law by making permanent six bridges that had been temporary; and that, when the waterway was a named a wild river in 1970, the state was authorized to allow only temporary bridges for short-term logging purposes. First Madison Tomatoes Picked Backyard Farms hopes to expand agricultural production in a state with cold weather and short growing season by adopting technology that could signal a new direction for farming in Maine, while creating new jobs at the same time. With a capacity of 240,000 plants growing up to 10- feet tall, the 1-million square foot greenhouse is projected to yield 1 million tomatoes a week – approximately 7.7 tons a year. Backyard Farms envisions three or four additional greenhouses that would also turn out other hydroponic produce, including cucumbers, peppers, eggplant and culinary herbs. The current work force of 65 could expand to as many as 250 workers. School Consolidation Concerns The plan is aimed at reducing statewide school administrative costs from an average of $396 per pupil to the national average of $186 per pupil. Since Maine has one administrator for every 393 pupils, compared with one to 816 nationally, the consolidation would eliminate 1,255 positions, including more than 100 superintendents, by 2008. The Governor’s office estimates that the proposal would save about $250 million over a three-year period starting in 2009. The plan has raised concerns that it would usurp the state’s long tradition of local control. The Governor and Education Commissioner Susan Gendron have been explaining the proposal at regional informational meetings throughout the state. There will be a public hearing before the Maine State Legislature Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee at 9 a.m. Monday, February 5, 2007 at the Augusta Civic Center. Possible Sale of Millinocket Mills Fraser already operates the mills on behalf of Katahdin Paper Co. LLC and expects to close the deal in April with Brookfield Asset Management, the mills’ present owner. Under the agreement, Fraser will pay $50 million plus working capital of about $30 million and royalty payments based on the performance of the supercalendered paper line from Millinocket’s mill. Fraser plans to continue to upgrade and streamline operations at the Millinocket and East Millinocket mills, which employ about 600 people. No new hires or layoffs are expected. The upgrades include spending $3 million to $5 million over the next year on operational enhancements, including refurbishing an old groundwood and pulping operation and pipeline connecting East Millinocket’s pulping works to Millinocket’s mill, increasing pulp production from 400 to 500 tons daily. The East Millinocket mill, with two machines and 450 workers, produces directory paper while the Millinocket mill, with one machine and 150 workers, makes a specialty paper — supercalendered — used in retail inserts, catalogs and magazines. Read the Plum Creek Plan You should also be able to access the EMDC study as well as ITS trail maps from this website. Read the EMDC Study of the Plum Creek Plan Impacts http://mainegov- images.informe.org/doc/lurc/reference/resourceplans/ moosehead/2006-08-18appb.pdf [Caution: This is a very large file and may take a long time to download.] email: info@preservegrowme.org |
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