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Concerns subject of meetings between Plum Creek and State agencies, changes forthcoming from developer By Jonathan Pratt - State and Federal agencies submitted their comments in writing to the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) last month, and the issues and concerns range from potential loss of habitat for loons, canada lynx and bald eagles, to concerns over gated areas beyond the current practice on Plum Creek lands. The reports were submitted by federal agencies that included the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. State entities included the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. The written comments, which were submitted in August, prompted Plum Creek officials to schedule meetings with state officials to discuss the issues and concerns that were raised in their reports. "We have met with the state agencies, and have had very productive meetings," Luke Muzzy said, adding, "and we have agreed to make changes to address their concerns." The comments submitted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service advised LURC "...that the provisions in Balanced and Legacy easements, as currently written, are not sufficient enough to assure that a "balance" has been achieved between development and conservation." Their report went on to conclude that "Protection from future development alone is insufficient to balance the cumulative effects of the Plum Creek developments." The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife added that "there will be a decline in the quality of the fishing experience for anglers in Moosehead Lake region." Their comments also stated more apparent concerns such as "...increases in traffic would increase risk for more moose strikes throughout the project area...". The Maine Department of Environmental Protection's testimony included repeatedly stated that there was insufficient information to evaluate the plan as submitted. This lack of information included the final approval of non-subdivision development, in particular the resorts that are proposed in the plan. The Maine Bureau of Parks & Lands (BPL), a division of the Department of Conservation, spoke of Plum Creeks' "administrative record on easements comparable to those being reviewed by LURC in connection to the concept plan", as Plum Creek has not met all administrative requirements by not signing prepared baseline documents to facilitate standard monitoring and dispute resolutions it related to the Pierce Pond, First Roach Pond and Day's Academy easements. The Bureau also expressed skepticism in regards to the proposed hiking trail easements because they (BPL) "have not yet seen any demonstration of financial capacity for trail development by those involved." The BPL also wrote their concerns regarding risks to free public access, saying, "while recent revisions have made progress, significantly more work is necessary by the applicant." To that end, officials from Plum Creek has met with several state agencies over the last few weeks. The subject of those meetings were to address the issues raised by both the state and federal experts, and concluded with Plum Creek working to formulate changes to the proposal to better coincide with agency policies and procedures. Bureau of Parks & Lands official Alan Stearns commented that, "We had very productive discussions, and I think that Plum Creek is very motivated to address many of our concerns."
Stearns went on to add that the Bureau needed to see Plum Creek's response before they would come to any conclusions, but there were very positive signals from Plum Creek officials.
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