by Douglas Rooks For 30 years, there’s been no fiercer, more consistent, or passionate advocate of protecting the Maine woods and enhancing its wildness. Cathy Johnson came to the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) in 1990, and two years later began working full-time on the North Woods project – a role she fulfilled for Read More
Plum Creek
Update: What’s Happening to the Plum Creek Plan for Moosehead Lake?
Fifteen years ago, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and people who love Maine’s North Woods were embroiled in a protracted campaign to prevent the Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Company from forever ruining the Moosehead Lake region with the largest development proposal in Maine history. Over a five-year period, ending in 2009, we collectively achieved Read More
A Second Chance for the Moosehead Lake Region?
From 2004 through 2009, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) worked hard to stop Plum Creek’s sprawling development plan for the Moosehead Lake region. During a four-year permitting process that included extensive comments from NRCM, the plan was amended in many ways to reduce impacts on remote ponds and resources; significant conservation was required; Read More
News & Noteworthy — September 2019
September 30, 2019 As September comes to a close, here are a few highlights from recent stories about Maine’s environment in the news. Timber company dropping hotly contested Moosehead development plan The timberland company Weyerhaeuser is asking to terminate a massive rezoning plan for the Moosehead Lake region that was the focus of years of Read More
Re-organizing the Unorganized Territories
By Edgar Allen Beem The Forescaster column Environmental groups in Maine seem pretty united in opposition to a proposal to change the way the state regulates where development may occur in Maine’s unorganized territories, that 10 million-acre half of the state where fewer than 9,000 people live and the Land Use Planning Commission is the Read More
Allowing Sprawling Development Would Hurt Towns, Wildlife, and Wilderness
Bangor Daily News editorial We give the Land Use Planning Commission, which oversees zoning and development in the state’s more than 10 million acres of unorganized territories, credit for listening to public criticism of a plan to allow more scattered development in these areas. After public hearings and comments that were overwhelmingly negative, the commission Read More
LePage’s Bond Freeze Jeopardizes the Economy of Somerset County
The Cold Stream Project, negotiated with Plum Creek, is in danger, particularly in light of the news that Weyerhaeuser is poised to buy Plum Creek. By David Trahan Kennebec Journal op-ed On Nov. 30, the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel ran an article about the resurgence of white-tailed deer in the small rural town of Read More
Plum Creek Lumber’s ‘Green’ Certification Challenged
A watchdog group files a complaint about the logging practices of one of the nation’s largest timber producers, which owns about 865,000 acres in Maine. By Jeff Barnard, The Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A watchdog group is challenging the environmentally friendly “green lumber” certification for Plum Creek Timberlands, one of Read More
Conservation Plan Also Brings Development in Maine
by Amy Sinclair NECN news story The historic agreement between the Nature Conservancy and Plum Creek protects 363, 000-acres of forest land around Moosehead Lake, including 80 ponds, 800 miles of river frontage and 200 miles of lakeshore around Maine’s largest. “So folks are welcome, they have access now to go hiking, go fishing go Read More
