A Few of the Many Comments Submitted to Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission in Opposition to Plum Creek’s Massive Development Plans
Listen to Moosehead region residents speak about why they opposed Plum Creek's plans.
As a 91-year-old Maine citizen, I have enjoyed many wonderful days hunting and fishing in the Moosehead area. It would be a shame to spoil this area with buildings that the ordinary Maine citizens could not afford. – Eugene Coffin, Guilford
I have just returned from a three-day stay at the Blair Hill Inn, Greenville and the Birches, Rockwood. The natural beauty of the area cannot be duplicated; it is a treasure that I pray my grandchildren will have the opportunity to appreciate. Some things are worth fighting for. As we farmers have so often said, “Asphalt is the last crop.” –Mary M. Briggs, Turner
I want my grandchildren to have the opportunity to know the beauty of wilderness…an ever decreasing resource on our planet. – Jane Dineen Panek, Palermo
It would be a sin to destroy the beauty and pristine quality of the lake, wildlife and the woods of northern Maine. I do have a personal interest for wanting to save the region. I was born in Bangor and my mother was born in Greenville Jct., as was my oldest brother and several aunts, uncles and cousins, some of who are still living there. Her family was the McEachren of which there were twelve children. My grandparents lived there and now have their resting place in Greenville. This area is one of the most beautiful places on earth and I would love to live there myself. I see no benefit in bringing in high priced “summer camps” to defile its beauty. This will only raise the taxes and make it harder on the people of Greenville to live there. I cannot imagine it being defiled in this way. I have a large oil painting done in 1920 by Charles Steward of the lake and Big Squaw and Little Squaw mountains—this is Moosehead—don’t change it. – Elizabeth and Aurelio Morichelli, Leavittown, PA
I’ve lived in Maine most of my 88 years (two years in NYC and I was so homesick, my dear husband, a New Yorker, brought me back to live here. Now he can’t imagine living anywhere else). The green of Maine and its wide open spaces, now disappearing all too fast, are so important to preserve. As you know many people from other states are moving here for their retirement (just one of the reasons for developments springing up everywhere). As a fervent environmentalist, I also worry about what developments do to wildlife and clean air. – Ruth and John Adams, Wilton
My mother was born and raised at the Folsom Farm in Days Academy Grant. I spent my summers there until I graduated high school. My mother in her later years spent summers at the Folsom Farm – maintained it and paid the taxes until her death in 1966. Since then other members of the family have continue to enjoy the property. It would be horrendous for Plum Creek to ruin the serene beauty of Moosehead Lake by making a playground for rich people. The thought is almost too much to bear. – Elizabeth Folsom Ames, Lagrange
High end development isn’t the answer to Maine’s forest. If this is allowed to even start then the rest of Maine’s woodlands will follow. There are a lot of landowners waiting to see how this goes. You can’t say yes to one and no to another. I truly believe that Maine needs to pull together at this time and somehow buy Plum Creek’s land. All of their land. Development will not work for the good of the people or Maine. – Ray Reitze, Canaan
Moosehead has been a sanctuary and haven for me since I was a child. Just because it is possible to exploit a resource, does not mean we should. I support the preservation and protection of the Moosehead Lake region so that in a land of overdevelopment we can maintain one slice of a mostly untouched beauty that embodies the soul of Maine. Mainers for Maine. – Cassie Julia, Waterville
It would be a great shame to spoil the Moosehead Lake region. Development never improves wilderness areas. Developers always promise a lot and in the end do what they want. Don’t spoil Moosehead Lake!! – Frank Duley, Kennebunkport
You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. – Jack Heneck, Winslow
Our family utilizes this region of Maine to get some peace and quiet away from the farm. We often enjoy this region of Maine specifically for its serene natural atmosphere. You can find plenty of developments like Plum Creek’s proposal nearby and through the nation. You can’t find the wonderfully natural atmosphere of the Moosehead Lake region anywhere! It is unique. It helps Mainers, because when we go on vacation, we keep our dollars in the state! We have no need to travel because we have exactly what we want right here in Maine – at least for now!!! We urge you to keep Maine the way it is!! We plead for your considering our plea in this matter. Thank you for your time and concern. –Joseph-Etienne and Clare Derosiers, Linneus
Our family has long enjoyed camping and hiking in these woods. Please don’t convert this special area into a giant suburbia, unavailable and unaffordable to Maine families. We need this area to support wildlife and simple human recreation. – Betty Beach, Wilton
The few people who stand to gain from this proposal greatly pale to the masses of people who will never again enjoy the beautiful land that is now endangered. So many of the people who come to the area now come for the very reasons that this proposal is not. Who wants a cookie cutter corporatized Moosehead? Out of state millionaires who will gobble up the property and line the pockets of out of state developers? No thank you. – Matthew Brunner, Westbrook
Every fall I take a week-long trip to Northern Maine to live outdoors and see and smell all that nature has to offer. I know it will be my last opportunity of the year to spend a large amount of time outside until the following spring. This time outdoors helps me to make it through the confinement of winter. If all these special outdoor places are tamed and turned into fancy expensive private residences, then the people of Maine will lose a big part of what is special about our state – its wild and natural elements. I do not wish the State of Maine to resemble the other states I visit. – Lisa Cummings, Hope
Maine doesn’t need a high company based across the country telling Maine what is good for Maine. Spend their money in Washington, their own state, and leave us free and wild. There’s plenty of land in Washington State that would love their developmental money. I like Moosehead and that region where I can get away to a quiet spot without the hustle and bustle of masses of people and infrastructure. Plum Creek may own the land but they have no business imposing their way of life on their Maine land. Keep that way in Washington State. Save our moose, our trees, our birds and small animals. Don’t let all this be destroyed by a greedy lot of out of staters. We don’t want them making money at the expense of our beautiful land. – Barbara Petersen, Dayton
I grew up in the area – and it would grieve me and my family to have Moosehead Lake area – and the State of Maine - became a Mecca for the well moneyed people. If that happens, the locals – woodsmen, canoe makers, hikers, fishermen and hunters – will surely be denied a lifestyle their families have known for generations. The coastal areas have almost all been lost to the natives – let’s be sure the biggest Maine lake and surrounding woods remains ours! Besides – the newcomers would never tolerate the mosquitoes – so bug spray would pollute. – Katy Perry, Hallowell
I am against giant corporations who pay no taxes come and push and bully their way around to get their way and to rape and destroy our wildlife and our environment just to fatten their already fat and bulging pocketbooks. Keep Maine for Maine residents and that means two- and four-legged residents. Send Plum Creek packing; they are neither wanted or needed. – Ronald Prather, Caribou
My dad and I went on several camping and fishing trips to Moosehead, driving up from Auburn where we lived. We would rent a boat in Greenville or Rockwood, load our gear into it and motor along to a likely looking campsite where we would set up our gear and spend 2-3 days fishing. This was in the 1940’s and 50’s. I don’t remember catching many fish, but I remember becoming attached to the Maine North Woods, which has stayed with me all these years. It’s apparent to me, and I’m sure to many other Mainers, that the real value of the Moosehead region is because it is wilderness, which will be lost forever if this type of development is allowed. If this project goes through, others are sure to follow. Plum Creek’s promise of no future development for 30-50 years is ridiculous, as there should be perpetual conservation of these lands. The wilderness of Maine woods should be more than a distant memory for future generations of Mainers.
– John S. White, Kennebunk
I grew up on the coast of Maine and my family would go camping on Moosehead Lake every summer or fall. It is where I saw my first moose, heard a loon for the first time and many other wonderful childhood memories. It deeply concerns me that this area would get developed so that I may never get to take my children to see their first moose there. Please don’t let this area be destroyed! - Indira Gowell, Bath
I have hunted and fished in the Moosehead Lake region ever since 1962. I believe Plum Creek’s plan will destroy all that I cherish. – John R. Vinton, Phippsburg
I look back on our family experiences on Moosehead Lake: Ice out fishing, summer boating and camping in remote sites as some of the best times the Edgars’ ever shared together. The unspoiled shore lines still remaining in Spencer and North Bay are irreplaceable. The back woods stands and small ponds are likewise priceless. Plum Creek’s plan will forever change that area. The long term benefits for Greenville are dubious at best, unless striving to be the North Windham or the York County Beaches is the goal. Other Maine wilderness areas, north, south and east will be next. The corporate “suits” will come and come. Be not seduced by them, you will not be alone. – Joseph Edgar, Cape Elizabeth
The Moosehead Lake region is a beautiful place. We wish to keep it unspoiled and wild and to keep it as much as we can the way it was when the white man first saw it. That is the way it should be kept. I once spoke to a young lady who was visiting there from Ireland. She spoke about how beautiful the area was and said that it reminded her of Galway Bay. We also want the North Woods to be the North Woods way it is. Plum Creek would or will destroy all of this. It will be gone forever. Moosehead Lake area will be gone from the way it is now. This will mostly benefit Plum Creek. Also I am from Piscataquis County. – Keith Church, Winslow
I was camping with children who are in residential care where I am the clinical manager. We were at Lily Bay. It was absolutely gorgeous. We fished, canoed, hiked, etc. and they loved it. I think Moosehead is absolutely gorgeous and should be preserved. Making it a rich person’s paradise is just plain wrong. This area needs careful planning, so we can continue to preserve the beauty and uniqueness of that area. – Irene K. vonHoffman, Orono
I moved to Maine 7 years ago after falling in love with the wild north woods of Maine. There are few places like this left in this continent while there are plenty of golf courses and RV parks and way too many huge environmentally unsound second homes. I also want to protect the traditional uses of the Moosehead Lake region by Mainers and respectful visitors to this state. Thank you for doing whatever you can to stop “progress” and the loss of more wild places. - Larkspur Morton, Old Town
Plum Creek’s irresponsible proposal for the Moosehead Lake region is the most disastrous development plan ever dreamed up to destroy our beautiful state. It is huge and would affect not only thousands of people, jobs and existing businesses, but also would destroy northern forests, wildlife and ecosystems. The entire wild heart of our state would be devastated. Don’t let this happen! Moosehead is beautiful; save it!!! – Louise A. Stanley, Newcastle
This is a region of great natural beauty that needs protection from the type of development proposed by Plum Creek. While your job, as chairman of LURC, is to balance the competing interest of development vs. conservation – you will not be able to “navigate” this balance – because of the inherent demands of infrastructure associated with these types of plans. We are losing our state with these types of proposals – I wish you well with your job responsibilities – but you need to step back – view the larger picture and stop this and similar proposals. Thanks for listening. – Dr. Roger Zimmerman, Portland
As a native Mainer and member of the Appalachian Mountain Club, I am appalled at Plum Creek’s plans to destroy Maine’s North Woods. Economic benefits resulting there from will not benefit Mainers or local Maine businesses and our wilderness environment will forever be destroyed. Keep the wilderness area wild and keep the developers away. – Joel Plourde, Springvale
Maine: The way life should be – this could not refer to the rightfully celebrated and revered Maine woods being turned into suburban subdivisions. How long must shortsighted quick money grabs be the rule? I hope the people of the State of Maine will see that the best interests for themselves and their descendants is to maintain – not destroy – our natural woodland. I have recently returned from my first trip to Seattle and surrounding area: it is heavily trafficked and looks nothing like the pristine Northwest of past legend. Believe me, you don’t want that here. (You wouldn’t want it there either, if you could anything about it) –Joanne C. Morse, Waterford
Our family has enjoyed camping at Lily Bay State Park and the surrounding area for over 20 years. What has made our time there so wonderful is the relative “wilderness” as compared with our home in Southern Maine. The unhurried pace, the quiet, the connection with nature it its unspoiled beauty is what brings us back to the region again and again. If the proposed development by Plum Creek goes through, the qualities of this region will be forever altered, to the detriment of all who currently enjoy it, as well as future generations. – Sara M. May, Scarborough
I am the planning board chairman in Parsonsfield. I am seeing the rural character of Maine disappear. We will never get it back. We are polluting our country as well. The quality of the water on Moosehead Lake will not be able to sustain it. – Marion Lee and Jeffrey L. Wright, Parsonsfield
For 20 years, beginning in 1915, my family spent every August at Mt. Kineo House on Moosehead Lake. There were “no cars – lots of boats – trips to cookout dinners in the evening – steaks and chops – pancakes the guides cooked – it was on an island (Farm Island) – golf, tennis, mountain climbing, hiking and a lot of activities which every one took part. We all loved Kineo.” (My mother related this in her history of the family.) It would be tragic if the forest and wildlife along with nature’s beauty were no longer available for the enjoyment and enrichment of future generations. It is also imperative that we protect our environment, which is under such threat of destruction today. I strongly urge you to see to its protection. – Carol A. Kinzel, Canaan, NY
This region is a beautiful, relaxing place in which to vacation if even for a week in the summer. When I was younger and living and working in Portland, a friend and I stayed for a few days on an island in Moosehead Lake. We mostly lived on togue while there, and paddled about by canoe, fishing. Her father was a guide and her uncle the owner of one of the islands. One day we were treated by her uncle to a trip on his inboard motor boat to Greenville to do some bit of shopping. I would call the Moosehead Lake region “happiness country” and am distressed to think I might not be allowed there again, simply because I am not on of the wealthy spoilers like Plum Creek. As far as I am concerned, Maine is the closest to heaven anyone on earth can live in, in spite of cold winter weather. We all have some outdoor activity to enjoy and it’s a shame to spoil it. – Jeannette T. Hemmingway, Jefferson
I have camped at Lily Pond and walked and paddled in that area. I found great beauty and peace there and expect that my grandchildren will do the same and hope to help make that possible. – Beth Stoddard, Portland
My family and I have enjoyed the Moosehead area for the past 30 years and I myself for much longer than 30 years. We enjoyed camping and on Moosehead (God’s Country). Plum Creek bought the land with full knowledge that it was zoned for forestry and timber operations. Why?? To change zoning to put money in their stockholders pockets? If this passed and Plum Creek has its way, it will be a black day for the State of Maine and the people of Maine forever. Please do not let them DESTROY this treasure. – Burchard T. Ranger and family, Falmouth
Maine has a unique resource – the Moosehead Lake region. This area is spectacular and relatively wild. Let’s not turn it into suburbia! I have canoed, hiked and camped for years in the Moosehead region and appreciated its wildness as well as the incredible views of the lake and mountains. It is possible to have development and recreational activities that work with this wildness and do not destroy it – but the Plum Creek plan is not such a development. It is way out of scale with the natural environment and the recreational activities people go to Moosehead for – activities that will be discouraged and which will be incompatible with the Plum Creek development. – Sharon Anglin Treat, Farmingdale
(All photos on this page by Allison Childs Wells)
