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Mission Statement:
“The Moosehead Region Futures Committee’s mission is to encourage, gather and incorporate area residents’ ideas and expertise to shape and balance the region’s future development, economy, and conservation efforts.”
In June of 2005, Plum Creek Timber’s proposal
to rezone over 400,000 acres of lands in the Moosehead
Region brought together a group of volunteers concerned
about the need to increase citizen participation in
creating a future for the Moosehead Region and its high
value resources.
The MRFC is funded by donations (large and small) given by area residents and area supporters. The MRFC is not a membership organization and is not affiliated with other organizations, LURC permit applicants or real estate companies. It is an information service as well as an area-wide conversation about the region’s future as it faces significant development proposals that offer both opportunity and risk for the region.
Since June of 2005 the MRFC has:
Recognized the need for a greater
public voice in planning for development and conservation
in the Moosehead region.
Organized information meetings in
Beaver Cove, Greenville, and Rockwood, collecting residents'
ideas about values and planning. Attended camp owner
and road association meetings in all affected project
areas (from Roach Pond to Moosehead to Brassua Lake)
as well as all four Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC)
scoping sessions held to hear residents’ concerns about
Plum Creek’s proposal.
Created a citizen database of residents
and businesses, assisting them with access to the LURC
public process; opened an office in Greenville.
Used public feedback from area meetings
and LURC scoping sessions to create Citizen Solutions:
planning guidelines and a map designed to point landowners,
developers, and state decision makers to solutions that
will support the area's North Woods character and a
strong, diverse local economy. Several suggestions from
Citizen Solutions were incorporated into the April 2006
revision of Plum Creek’s proposal. These include: relocation
of a proposed resort to Big Moose Mountain, provision
for affordable housing, and establishment of a Community
Fund (for education and recreation) based on contributions
from the sale prices of house lots.
Held meetings with Plum Creek to work
on plan revisions that would better secure the region's
future.
Organized a stakeholder meeting of
area outdoor businesses and clubs to map the region's
valuable woods, waters, and wildlife habitat. One of
Plum Creek’s attorneys participated in the meeting and
gathered preliminary maps to share with Plum Creek’s
planners. This meeting marked the start of the Moosehead
Mapping Collaborative: a joint effort of the MRFC, the
Appalachian Mountain Club, the Natural Resource Education
Center, and the Center for Community Geographic Information
Systems to create area maps of high value nature tourism
resources.
Met with LURC staff and consultants
several times.
Submitted to LURC a detailed analysis
of the April 2006 revision of Plum Creek's proposal,
based on the guidelines in Citizen Solutions. This analysis
noted strengths and weaknesses of the proposal, asked
for further research on numerous issues, and suggested
specific changes that would protect natural resources
and support a strong, diverse local economy. Some of
these suggestions were incorporated into the April 2007
version of Plum Creek’s proposal. For example, proposed
development was eliminated from certain locations judged
as inappropriate (Prong Pond, Big W Township, and the
northwest of Brassua Lake).
Been granted full intervener status
for the LURC hearings on Plum Creek’s proposal, held
in December 2007 and January 2008. In preparation for
these hearings, Steering Committee members submitted
pre-filed testimony presenting an in-depth analysis
of Plum Creek’s proposal as viewed through the lens
of Citizen Solutions, and studied testimony submitted
by Plum Creek and 18 other participating groups. During
the four weeks of hearings, the eight MRFC witnesses
were questioned with regard to their areas of expertise
by LURC and other parties, and Steering Committee members
cross-examined numerous witnesses, using in-depth local
knowledge to challenge flawed or incomplete information
provided by Plum Creek and other interveners.
Played an active role in the post-hearing
revision process for Plum Creek’s proposal. In March
2008, Steering Committee members submitted a post-hearing
brief with detailed requests for revisions to Plum Creek’s
proposal. After reading the briefs filed by various
parties, LURC staff and consultants developed a list
of recommended amendments to Plum Creek’s application.
In July 2008, Steering Committee members submitted a
critique of these LURC-generated amendments, specifying
further revisions that would better protect the natural
resources owned by the citizens of Maine and better
support a sustainable nature-based economy. In March
2009, LURC staff and consultants completed a revised
draft of Plum Creek's proposal. Steering Committee members
scrutinized this draft and submitted a list of ongoing
concerns.
The Steering Committee:
The MRFC’s work is directed by a diverse group
of residents who support a public process to review
and revise development proposals that will affect the
future of the Moosehead region. Steering Committee members
include residents with experience owning and running
sporting camps and outfitting businesses, guides, a
developer, a journalist, a logger, doctors, and seasonal
homeowners. Members live throughout Plum Creek’s project
area, on the east and west sides of Moosehead Lake,
in both organized towns and Unorganized Territory.
Steering Committee Members:
Suzanne
AuClair is an experienced journalist, editor,
and award-winning outdoor columnist. An eighth-generation
Mainer, she is actively committed to economic planning
that places high value on maintaining the distinction
of Maine regions. She has participated in many business
planning efforts, including the direction, organization
and management of Moosehead Lake’s International Seaplane
Fly-In. She is a former trustee of the Natural Resource
Education Center and past vice president of the Rockwood
Fire and Rescue Dept. Board of Directors. Suzanne lives
in the Unorganized Territory, near Rockwood village.
George Bakajza lives
with his wife and two children on the west shore of
Moosehead Lake in the Unorganized Township of Sandbar
Tract. George came to the Moosehead region in 1982 to
work as the Piscataquis and Somerset County District
Conservationist for the USDA Soil Conservation Service.
In 1989 he started an environmental consulting business
offering services such as soil and wetland mapping,
septic system design, environmental permitting and land
management. In 1999 he also became the Land Steward
for Sweet Water Trust's 12,000 acre Alder Stream Preserve
in Piscataquis and Penobscot Counties. George is a Maine
Certified Soil Scientist and Site Evaluator as well
as a nationally certified Soil Scientist and Agronomist.
Sandra Neily has
lived in Greenville since 1980. She has been an outfitter,
Licensed Maine Whitewater Guide, Director of the Maine
Conservation School, and Maine Audubon’s Outreach Director.
Active in planning that affects tourism and economic
development, she was an appointee to Maine’s Economic
Growth Council and the Citizens’ Advisory Committee
to the Northern Forest Lands Council. Sandy is the author
of two research reports about Maine’s economy and its
outdoor resources: “Valuing the Nature of Maine” and
“Watching Out for Maine’s Wildlife”. Recently, she has
been employed by the University of Maine's Forest Bioproducts
Research Project and by the Maine Audubon Society as
a sanctuary naturalist. She is currently the Executive
Director of the University of Maine’s Tanglewood 4-H
Camp and Learning Center.
Dr. Christina Pritham
is a fourth generation Greenville resident and a fourth
generation health care provider. She is a Certified
Nutrition Specialist and has a natural health care practice
in Greenville. Christina also has a forestry degree
and is a certified scuba diver. She provides underwater
services as the Moosehead Mermaid and dives for the
log salvage business that she and her partner Joe run
on Moosehead Lake. Christina is a Registered Maine Guide
who loves to backcountry snowboard and is passionate
about protecting the area’s natural resources, including
its wildlife, for recreation, tourism, and a truly sustainable
forest economy.
Joe Richards is a
fourth generation Greenville resident and a third generation
logger. He has an accounting degree and has been self-employed
most of his adult life running logging, forestry, and
tree care related businesses in the Moosehead region.
Joe has observed first hand the logging practices of
most of the major landowners in the state. He is an
avid hiker, hunter, snowmobiler, and ATV user. Joe is
committed to maintaining sustainable outdoor recreation,
the character of the region, and the small town way
of life in Greenville and neighboring villages.
Dr. Wendy Weiger
and her mother researched communities from Maine to
Alaska before deciding to settle in this region six
years ago, selecting the area for its outdoor values
and resources. A landowner on First Roach Pond, Wendy
is completing a book on the natural world that combines
spiritual and scientific perspectives. Wendy has an
MD and a PhD from Harvard and worked as a research associate
at Harvard Medical School before her move to Maine.
She is a Registered Maine Guide and recently started
Achor Guiding Service, offering hiking and snowshoeing
excursions with an emphasis on nature study.
John Willard is the
owner of The Birches Resort. He owns forest lands in
the region, having purchased property from Great Northern
Paper and created Moosehead Wildlands, open to public
use. He is also a real estate developer and conservation
proponent, having completed a Concept Plan (the same
process Plum Creek is using) that combined the rezoning
and sale of land with extensive conservation of Brassua
Lake’s northern shores. John is a licensed Maine forester,
a Registered Maine Guide, a pilot, and has lived in
Rockwood for 40 years.
Joan Wisher is a
resident of Frenchtown Township, having arrived here
after 16 years as a Massachusetts State Police Trooper.
Joan is currently active in a combination of traditional
and alternative health care pursuits and is past president
of her camp owner association on First Roach Pond. Joan
and her Roach Pond neighbors experienced Plum Creek's
first Concept Plan rezoning proposal and its various
development phases, including harvesting, road building,
and lot development.
To talk to Steering Committee members,
please call or email the MRFC office:
207-695-4888, info@mooseheadfutures.org.
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