Activists with Maine Earth First! disrupt LURC meeting relating to a proposed Plum Creek development at Moosehead Lake
On the first day of Fall, Maine Earth First! occupied the Land Use Regulatory Commission’s meeting at the Ramada Inn in Bangor, Maine in protest of the agency’s planned approval of Plum Creek’s controversial development proposal in the Moosehead Lake region. Six people were arrested for disrupting the planned vote which gave a green light to the largest development proposal in Maine’s history.
For the last five years, the country’s largest land holder has been courting LURC, a regulatory agency of the Department of Conservation, for a zoning change regarding more then 20,000 acres on and around Moosehead Lake. The zoning change process has experienced an unprecedented rate of public participation. The vast majority of Mainers expressing strong disapproval for the plan. For example, critics of the plan noted that LURC received over 1,700 comments in 2008 in opposition to a resort development on Lily Bay as part of the Plum Creek Concept Plan, where as only 6 expressed support.
In anticipation of a “yes” vote, four EF!ers rushed to the front of the meeting room demanding a chance to have their own vote. The audience looked on stunned as the four, joined by others in the crowd, railed the LURC commissioners for failing, to do their job and selling out the state’s resources and biodiversity to corporate interests. After refusing to leave they sat down and linked arms. While being forcefully removed and arrested by the Bangor police, two others were arrested. The six ef!ers were charged with disorderly conduct and tresspassing. All six later plead not guilty and are seeking a jury trial.
“Plum Creek has really put the “con” into conservation,” said Ryan Clarke of Maine EarthFirst! “The hundreds of thousands of acres that
Mainers believe will be conserved under this plan are in reality still subject to harmful extraction projects. Plum Creek will still be able to make millions by retaining their rights to spread sewage sludge, build roads, clear cut forests and plant genetically engineered trees, extract gravel and build cell phone towers. This plan will do nothing for Maine people and just line the pockets of corporate CEOS from away.”
Jessie Dowling of Rising Tide North America and EarthFirst! explained “in times of great climate crisis and economic crisis, our land use
planners need to be visionaries and leaders, and not subject to small private interests. The North Woods and Moosehead Lake are a part of the largest undeveloped region east of the Mississippi River. This area plays a significant role to our global community as a carbon sink. Development for second homes and resorts should not be a priority at this time.”
Activists with Maine Earth First! disrupt LURC meeting relating to a proposed Plum Creek development at Moosehead Lake
Maine Earth First! has been critical of Plum Creek’s proposal from the beginning and are pledging continued resistance to the plan as it
moves forward in the coming months. Meg Gilmartin of EarthFirst! said, “We are completely dedicated to doing what LURC has refused to do: protecting a way of life, safeguarding biodiversity, promoting climate stability and preserving the culture , which will lead us in the
direction of climate and economic sustainability.”
Plum Creek proposes to rezone 20,000 acres, for development of high-end resorts and second homes as part of its Moosehead Lake
Concept Plan. The plan includes 90,000 acres of conservation easements to satisfy the Land Use Regulatory Commission’s (LURC) requirement for a conservation balance. An additional 266,000 acres worth of development rights on Plum Creek land will be sold to The Nature Conservancy and The Appalachian Mountain Club for $35 million. This conservation is being hailed by many as an unprecedented opportunity to protect a large tract of land in Northern Maine, however, the conservation easements only prevent further development. They still allow ecologically destructive practices such as gravel mining, spreading of sewage sludge, commercial water extraction, industry defined “sustainable forestry,” road building and the erection of power-lines.
Several of the environmental groups who have been consistently fighting Plum Creek have announced plans to appeal the decision. The citizens of Maine have jumped through all the legal hoops too and shown unprecedented opposition to this development, and LURC has shown where they stand. Maine Earth First! Will not back down and will be there every step of the way to make sure the eco-yuppie resorts are not built and that the Moosehead Lake region will one day outlive Plum Creek’s irresponsible ownership. Join us next summer at the RRR, where we will be putting a wrench in Plum Creek’s development plans and any other corporate interests that dare to threaten the North Woods!
