Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Even though a "compromise" crafted by the Legislature claimed to serve the needs of sportsmen by designating a separate 2,000-acre parcel north of the lake as public land open to hunting and snowmobiling, we literally can't get there from here. It's a long ride over roads owned by several private landowners to get to that 2,000 acres-- and no snowmobile trails will take you there.

The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, for which I work, the Maine Snowmobile Association, the Maine Professional Guides Association and other sportsmen's groups strongly opposed this project that included the purchase of 4,000 acres around Katahdin Lake for Baxter Park. The deal stipulated that traditional outdoor activities including trapping, hunting and snowmobiling would be banned on the land.

Although it was an ugly and bitter fight and some still harbor resentments, a few good things came out of this epic battle. First, many of the state's leading conservation groups acknowledged -- albeit privately -- that this is the wrong way to do conservation. The conservation community, including sportsmen's groups, has been united in the past on all of the state's major projects.

Too many special places have yet to be protected -- including a lot of undeveloped land along the Kennebec River that is a special concern of mine -- to allow the fallout from one project to continue to divide us. It's time to put the Katahdin Lake project behind us and pull together for the future.

Gov. John Baldacci recognizes this and has taken a huge step forward by issuing an executive order creating the Task Force Regarding the Management of Public Lands and Publicly Held Easements.

"In the last four years, more than 750,000 acres of land have been conserved in Maine through public and private partnerships," Baldacci said. "Given all of the changes taking place in land ownership and around land-use issues, now is an important time to bring people together to make sure protected land is managed appropriately." Senate President Beth Edmonds offered to sponsor a bill for the Sportsman's Alliance to create this task force, but the governor's order made legislative action unnecessary.

The governor's task force -- on which I will serve -- will address the growing concerns, especially from people in northern Maine, that their access to and uses of public lands are being reduced.

First, we will get the facts by creating a baseline inventory of the existing management and recreational uses and types of access on public lands. We'll find out what we can do and where we can do it. Then we'll try to identify strategies and resources necessary to reduce conflicts and competition between recreational users of public lands.

The cooperation of the governor and administration will allow us to get started on this important task immediately and to easily collect all of the necessary information from state agencies and programs.

Another outcome of the Katahdin Lake battle is a collaborative effort initiated by Roxanne Quimby to address concerns of sportsmen's groups and Millinocket area residents about the management of her property east of Baxter Park. Readers of this column might remember that I have been sharply critical of Quimby for excluding sportsmen from her property, including hunters and snowmobilers.

Quimby reached out to SAM, the Maine Snowmobile Association, and leaders in the Millinocket community to start a discussion about the management of her existing property and her plans for the future.

I've found Quimby to be interesting, intelligent and focused on her objectives. On our side of the table, we've been equally open and forceful in explaining our hopes for that important area of northern Maine.

It's too early to tell what, if any, outcome this will bring, but we've made remarkable progress toward an understanding that will serve everyone -- and just the fact that we're talking, rather than sniping at each other in the press, is a good thing.

Rex Turner's column in this newspaper last week reported that "there is more conflict in the outdoor community than need be."

I agree. Perhaps the divisive Katahdin Lake project will be the catalyst for the cooperation and compromise that is needed so we can all enjoy the North Woods.

George Smith is executive director of the

Sportsman's Alliance of Maine. He lives in Mount Vernon and can be reached at george@samcef.org.