LURC Lays Out Schedule for Plum Creek Application
On April 27, 2007, the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) received amendments to Plum Creek's Petition for Rezoning to implement a Concept Plan in the Moosehead Lake region.

LURC Review Process and Tentative Pre-Hearing Schedule

In the next few weeks, LURC staff will determine whether Plum Creek's amended Concept Plan petition is "acceptable for processing." A determination of "acceptable for processing" will mean that LURC staff will have concluded that the amended petition contains sufficient information for LURC staff and the public to understand what Plum Creek is proposing.

Once the amended petition is accepted for processing, LURC staff will recommend to the Commission a schedule for soliciting requests to intervene, holding pre-hearing conferences, receiving pre-filed testimony, and holding public hearings. Interested parties will continue to be notified of upcoming due dates, meetings and public hearings related to this petition.

Meanwhile, in order to provide guidance and predictability to Plum Creek and other potential parties with respect to LURC's anticipated review process and after taking into consideration all legal notice requirements, other processing requirements, and the importance of providing all potential parties with due process in the hearing proceeding, LURC staff developed the following tentative pre-hearing schedule:

• May 18th - First conceivable date for LURC to accept the petition for processing, assuming no additional information is needed from Plum Creek.
• June 20th - Potential due date for petitions for intervention.
• July 11th - Decision on petitions for intervention.
• July 13th - First possible date for pre-hearing conference(s).
• August 31st - Potential due date for pre-filed testimony and review agency comments.
• October 29th - First conceivable start date for public hearings.

LURC welcomes written public comments on this proposal at any time until the public hearing record is closed. The deadline for comments will be established once a public hearing is scheduled. All such comments should be delivered by either e-mail to LURC@maine.gov or by postal mail to the Commission's Augusta office (Land Use Regulation Commission, 22 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0022).

The amended application materials should be available for public inspection as follows:

Download the application materials from the web at: www.maine.gov/doc/lurc/reference/resourceplans/moo sehead.html

Request an electronic copy of the application materials on CD from LURC by calling 207-287-2631 or e-mailing your name and address to LURC@maine.gov.

View a paper copy of the application materials at the following locations:

• LURC Augusta Office on 18 Elkins Lane, Harlow Bldg 4th floor, Augusta.
• Beaver Cove Town Office; Greenville Town Office; Jackman Town Office; Rockwood Post Office; and the Shaw Public Library in Greenville.

The complete Plum Creek plan application and related maps are available at www.plumcreekplanmaine.com.

Kathadin Lake "Valley Lands" Deal in Jeopardy
Gardner Land Co., the owner of 8,000 wooded acres that were to be sold to the state to ease objections to the addition of Katahdin Lake to Baxter State Park, has rejected an estimated $6 million offer from the state on grounds that it was too low. The option for the state to buy the lands outright expired May 1st at midnight.

A 6,015-acre Katahdin Lake parcel - part of a deal negotiated last year that included a swap by of the Katahdin Lake land for 21,000 acres of high-value timberland, including 7,000 acres of well-managed public lots - has already been deeded to the state. The Baxter State Park Authority intended to manage the lake parcel as wilderness sanctuary off-limits to hunting and trapping but lawmakers split off 2,000 acres north of the lake and deeded it to the Bureau of Parks and Lands, which allows traditional uses.

Maine lawmakers agreed last year on a trade-off in which the state pledged to keep the 8,000-acre "Valley lands" open to sportsmen. To address sportsmen's lingering concerns about loss of access, Gardner agreed to give the state an option to buy the Valley lands or acquire conservation easements to protect public access.

The failure of the state to buy the Valley lands would not affect the previous acquisition.

The Maine Department of Conservation asserts that the passing of the deadline for buying the land outright doesn't mean the deal is dead. The state also has four months to execute an option for a conservation easement if the purchase falls through.

If the deal falls through, Gardner has said that they have other interested buyers. Gardner declined to identify potential buyers

Both parties have said they would continue negotiating.

Bear Trapping Targeted Again
A public hearing on LD 1635 (An Act To Prohibit Recreational Bear Trapping) will be held on Tuesday, May 8th at 1:00 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center in the Androscoggin Room.

The Maine Professional Guides Association (MPGA) has stated that this bill represents the beginning of the end for all trapping and bear hunting in Maine.

This bill was submitted by the Wildlife Alliance of Maine (WAM), a Bangor-based animal protection group.

WAM has recently stated publicly that they oppose all forms of recreational trapping. Individuals associated with WAM eliminated the coyote control program with threats of a lawsuit. WAM is currently working cooperatively with the Animal Protection Institute on the lawsuit filed in Bangor to eliminate all land trapping in areas frequented by eagles and lynx.

For more information, please visit the MPGA website at: www.maineguides.org.

Revised Redington Wind Farm Proposal
Maine Mountain Power, the company behind the proposed 30-turbine Redington Wind Farm, which the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) rejected in January, plans to abandon its request for 12 turbines atop Redington Mountain and submit a scaled-down plan that would leave 18 wind turbines originally proposed for Black Nubble Mountain.

LURC board members surprised the applicants and project supporters when, in January, they requested that staff submit a document denying the proposal. LURC staff had recommended approving the $130 million project.

Supporters praised the Redington project as a way to produce enough clean, emissions-free energy to power up to 40,000 homes. But opponents predicted that the project would spoil the views from nearby Sugarloaf/USA ski resort and from the Appalachian Trail.

The company is also prepared to place the land on Redington Mountain in conservation.

LURC staff is working to prepare a new recommendation on the original project in time for the LURC June meeting.

Bill Seeks to Preserve Farmland and Timberland
The Taxation Committee of the Maine State Legislature is considering LD 1376 (An Act to Preserve Farmland and Timberland), a Maine Forest Products Council-sponsored bill that removes the value of eligible farmland and timberland from the calculation of the Maine estate tax.

The estate tax is a significant barrier to long term family ownership of timberland and farmland. The estate tax contributes to financial pressures at the time of land transfer within families that often results in sale or conversion of the land to other uses.

For over ten years, taxation on forest landowners has been recognized as an impediment to long-term ownership. It was identified as an issue in the Northern Forest Lands Study in 1994, as well as the Liquidation Harvesting Complementary Solutions stakeholder group.

This legislation will help stabilize land ownership, encourage stewardship and sustainability by promoting long-term ownership of timberland and farmland.

For more information, please visit the MFPC website at: http://capwiz.com/meforest/state/main/?state=ME.

Training Program for L-P Employees in New Limerick
Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Northern Maine Community College and Maine Quality Centers are creating a training program to train employees for Louisiana- Pacific's New Limerick plant, which is going through a $105 million expansion that will add 40 jobs.

Under the agreement, NMCC and MQC will train as many as 45 Louisiana-Pacific employees in forklift operation, safety practices, fire protection and other areas over an eight-month period beginning in July. The joint initiative has an $80,000 value.

Louisiana-Pacific's New Limerick plant currently employs 124 people and is being converted from producing oriented strand board production to oriented strand lumber production by late 2007.

Marketing the Moosehead Lake Region
Ron Masure (previous owner of Leisure Life Resort) will be speaking about ways to improve marketing the Moosehead Lake region on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at DKB's Catering in Greenville.

If you are planning to attend, please RSVP to Janice Dyer, evergreenlodge@prexar.com, by Friday, May 25, 2007.

DOT Plan for Roads and Bridges
The Maine Department of Transportation's (DOT) released their two-year plan for rebuilding and repairing Maine's roads and bridges. The plan calls for an investment of $623 million.

The $623 million still fails to provide enough funding to allow the DOT to catch up on all $200 million in projects deferred over the last few years

Average construction costs in Maine increased 35% from the 2004-2005 plan to the 2006-2007 plan. In addition to spiking construction costs, the DOT is also challenged by dwindling and inconsistently released federal funds.

Funding for the two-year plan is contingent on passage of a $133 million state transportation bond that goes before voters in June.

In total, the DOT's two-year plan calls for investing $815 million to improve all modes of transportation managed by the state. The state also maintains seven ferry vessels, 36 airports, three major ports and 25% of 1,200 miles of rail.

Of that amount $623 million will be spent on highways and bridges. The DOT is responsible for 8,400 miles of highways, of which 20% is in need of reconstruction. The DOT also maintains 2,964 bridges, 45% of which are 50 years old or older.

Almost 20% of the highway and bridge projects in the plan were deferred over the last several years when costs skyrocketed.

Bridges, which have a life span of about 80 years, have been a priority because if they have to be posted or closed, they affect entire transportation corridors.

The number of miles of highway reconstruction planned for 2008-2009 is actually 4% fewer than in the 2006-2007 plan.

The projects will involve crack sealing, repaving, reconstruction, culvert work and some intersection work. To view the projects listed in the report and the entire DOT plan, please go to: http://www.maine.g ov/mdot/planning- documents/bcwp2008_2009.php.

U Maine-Presque Isle to Harness Wind Power
The University of Maine at Presque Isle plans to use wind to cut its energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The university plans to spend roughly $1.5 million to erect a single wind turbine on campus that is expected to generate 500,000 kilowatts of energy, enough to save roughly $100,000 a year University officials expect to see a return on the investment within 10 years.

The project's design and permitting is expected to be complete by the end of the summer and university officials, who will seek funding assistance from the federal government, plan to begin construction next summer.

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