Keeping Maine's Forests, Part III

The Keeping Maine's Forests initiative has currently published two proposals.  (I covered the first of the two the other day in Part II of this series of posts.)  The second proposal is "Keeping Maine's Forest-Based Economy: A National Demonstration Project." The 14-page proposal outlines seven themes-

1. Diversify Markets by funding a Forest Products Advisor.
2. Increase Energy Efficiency by restructuring the Rural Energy for America (REAP) grant program to better assist forest-based businesses. (On a side note, Red River applied for a REAP grant for our solar energy project but didn't make the cut.)
3. Enhanced Training and Assistance by increasing funding for the USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant and Rural Business Opportunity Grant programs.
4. Expand Rural Broadband Access.
5. Improve Landowner Relations with recreational users of conservation lands.
6. Reduce Landowner Costs for trail construction and maintenance on conserved parcels.
7. Enhance Wood Supplies by restoring the WoodsWISE program, which stopped accepting applications in 2009 due to decreased USDA funding.

The Keeping Maine's Forests steering committee believes that, together, these seven themes will help strengthen Maine's forest economy, both from a products and a recreation/tourism perspective.  I can't say I disagree with them; although I'm far from an economist.  (In fact, I'm SO FAR from being an economist that I'm not going to even try to expand on the themes above; I'll just let you read the proposal for yourself.  It's fairly short and sweet.)

Keeping Maine's Forests, Part II

It's been quite a while since I looked at the Keeping Maine's Forests initiative.  While it started life as almost a "secret society" due to the tensions between the negotiating parties, and finding information on it was like finding a needle among the many haystacks on the internet, it looks like it's now gone mainstream.  They even have a website.  The site doesn't have a lot of information yet, but they do have .pdf copies of their current proposals.

Among other things, the main proposal outlines two of the initiative's pilot projects. The Downeast Pilot Project appears to include purchasing a working forest conservation easement on several hundred thousand acres from a willing landowner.  (Or purchasing 12,000 acres on a larger parcel; it was a little ambiguous.)  Agreeing to a working forest easement means that the land will remain under timber production and/or recreational uses and will therefore also remain economically viable.  (Detractors from the initiative worry that large conservation easements will drive down land values; conspiracy theorists then surmise that lower land values are all part of a plan to create a National Park as landowners sell their land to the only willing buyer: the Federal government.)

The Western Mountains and Lakes Pilot Project would place over 50,000 acres under conservation easements, but the proposal doesn't say whether these would be working forest easements or not.

The proposal also outlines four "Demonstration Landscapes," which, in short, equate to what the initiative strives for in terms of outcome.  The Demonstration Landscapes are the Allagash and St. John Rivers, Moosehead to Katahdin, the Western Mountains and Lakes, and the Downeast region.

The proposal is an interesting read.  (You can access the .pdf directly here.)  I haven't yet read the "Keeping Maine's Forest-Based Economy" proposal, but I'll try to do that in the next day or two.  Now that the initiative has entered the public eye, there's quite a bit of information (and opinions on both sides) available through a simple Google search.

A Vision for the North Woods?

From the Portland Press-Herald:

"A group called the Keeping Maine's Forests steering committee is working on a proposal to protect millions of acres of the working forest from further development. The committee is close to having a final plan and will deliver it to federal officials as early as this month."

Read the entire article here.

This could be a very big deal for those of us in and around the North Maine Woods. I think everyone who knows me knows how I feel about the woods. If done right, this deal could be very beneficial to the people of Northern Maine, and it could ensure that Deboullie retains its remote character well into the future.

I'll keep my eyes open for more information on this potential land deal, which is being negotiated only among a select few at this point, and I'll keep you posted. I'm optimistic with a healthy dose of skepticism at this point.