Maine Audubon Votes to Pursue "Vigorous" Policy Effort, not Judicial Appeal of Plum Creek Decision

Contact: Elyse Tipton, (207) 781-2330, ext. 229

FALMOUTH, Maine, October 1, 2009—In a special meeting, the Maine Audubon Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to begin pursuing corrective policy action but not a judicial appeal of the approval last week by Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) of the largest development proposal in Maine’s history.

Seattle-based Plum Creek plans nearly a thousand new residential lots as well as resorts and other development scattered over significant portions of the landscape around Moosehead Lake.

Instead of challenging the LURC decision in court, Maine’s largest wildlife conservation organization will initiate broad-based public-policy efforts to address serious flaws in the deliberation and decision-making process that led to the plan’s approval.

“Maine Audubon is moving into a new phase of our work to help shape conservation in the Moosehead Lake region and throughout Maine’s North Woods,” said Ted Koffman, Maine Audubon executive director.

“While we are disappointed that LURC has approved a plan from Plum Creek that we believe is not in the best interests of the people and valuable natural assets of Maine, we are moving forward energetically to initiate public discussion of the policy and process failures of the decision.

“Our goal—shared by the thousands of people who live and work in and visit Maine—is a conservation legacy for the North Woods that includes sustainable forestry, healthy communities, outdoor recreation, diverse wildlife species, and protected habitat.”

Koffman said that as Plum Creek’s plan moves through permitting stages ahead, Maine Audubon will continue to monitor and weigh-in on decisions that will have an impact on wildlife.

He said the organization’s strongest efforts, however, will be focused more broadly to address policy concerns stemming from the “flawed” precedents set by the Plum Creek decision that could undermine future regulatory review of significant development projects by LURC and Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Of particular concern to Maine Audubon is that private funds will pay Plum Creek more than $20 million to conserve land that LURC required to mitigate for the negative impacts of the development proposed. Maine typically requires developers pay—not be paid for—mitigation, but the commission did not feel it had legal authority to determine whether conservation land could be paid for by third parties.

“We don’t agree with the commission on this score, and believe this serious issue warrants a vigorous policy debate,” Koffman said. “If that precedent is left as is, we fear Maine will come to regret it. It will be costly for Maine people today, and for future generations.”

As a formal intervenor in LURC’s four-year review of Plum Creek’s rezoning application, Maine Audubon and its supporters played a prominent role in the LURC process. As a result, the development, while still imposing unacceptable impacts, is far better for the wildlife and valuable natural assets of the area than the clearly unacceptable plan Plum Creek introduced in April 2005.

The LURC decision last week requires more conservation, and scales back some development originally proposed on the shores of many remote lakes, ponds, rivers, and significant wetlands. In turn, the revisions reduce threats to important habitat for brook trout, Canada lynx, rusty blackbirds, least bitterns, and waterfowl and wading birds.

Maine Audubon’s testimony during the review of Plum Creek’s application also is relevant in public discussion currently underway about changes to LURC’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP).

Maine Audubon supports proposed changes to LURC’s comprehensive plan that will identify areas most and least appropriate for development, in order to protect sustainable forestry, recreational opportunities, wildlife habitat and other valuable natural resources, and the character of this vast and predominantly undeveloped forest landscape.

Koffman said Maine Audubon could not have influenced the outcome of this process as effectively as it did without the “extraordinary outpouring and generous support” of its donors and members. He also said the organization’s board and staff were profoundly inspired by and grateful to the more than 2,000 people who testified at hearings, wrote letters, and participated in the LURC process to improve the proposal.

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MAINE AUDUBON works to protect Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation and action.

With more than a 160-year history of connecting people with nature, Maine Audubon is the only organization in Maine working to conserve wildlife in three ways: providing hands-on environmental education for people of all ages, conducting research and wildlife conservation projects statewide, and taking action to help shape effective science-based conservation policy.

Support for Maine Audubon comes from its 11,000 members, donors, and volunteers, including individuals, foundations, and corporations. Maine Audubon is an independently funded and operated affiliate of the National Audubon Society and has local chapters statewide (Downeast, Fundy, Merrymeeting, Midcoast, Penobscot Valley, Western Maine, York County).

Maine Audubon’s programs and trips, two year-round visitor centers, and eight wildlife sanctuaries open to the public offer young children through senior citizens wide-ranging opportunities to explore, learn about, and care for Maine’s wildlife throughout the year.

Year-round Programs:

Falmouth: Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Maine Audubon headquarters

Holden: Fields Pond Audubon Center

Summer-Fall Programs:

Elliotsville: Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary

Freeport: Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary

Rockland: Project Puffin Visitor Center

Scarborough: Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center

Open to the Public; Group Programs by Arrangement:

Biddeford Pool: East Point Audubon Sanctuary

Georgetown: Josephine Newman Audubon Sanctuary

West Bath: Hamilton Audubon Sanctuary

Find more information about Maine Audubon sanctuaries and centers, as well as a schedule of programs and trips, at www.maineaudubon.org.