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Monthly Archive for: ‘June, 2008’
June 24: Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center mentioned in WLBZ News editorial on new use for potatoes.
June 24, 2008 – They are not laughing anymore; Years ago we suggested Maine could find a new use for potatoes. Our concern at that time was a bad crop year and potato’s were hauled to the dump. We found a factory in Massachusetts that was using corn starch to make things like golf tees, coat handgers, packing peanut and …
Read MoreThe Margaret Chase Smith Essay. The Maine Woods: A Legacy of Controversy
In 1963 wilderness advocate William O. Douglas described the 10-million acre Maine North Woods as eastern America’s “last natural frontier,” a land of pristine beauty worthy of the nation’s best efforts at preservation. Others portrayed it as an almost inexhaustible source of wood and fiber and a backbone for the northern Maine economy. These contrasts reflect some of the difficult …
Read MoreForging a Common Vision for Maine's North Woods
Robert Lilieholm takes stock of the challenges and opportunities facing Maine’s North Woods in the context of changing ownership patterns and development pressures. He suggests that a broader, regional vision for the North Woods might better serve the long-term interests of the area’s forests and its struggling communities. Lilieholmv16n2.pdf 1.7 MB
Read MoreAre the Economics of a Sustainable Maine Forest Sustainable?
Mike LeVert, Charles Colgan and Charles Lawton discuss the transformation of the economic environment of Maine’s forests over the past two decades. Paper companies have sold most of their holdings; residential and conservation demand for land has increased; forestland prices have skyrocketed; and new classes of landowners have different strategies, objectives, and time horizons than the old industrial landowners. The …
Read MoreSeeing the Forest for the Trees: The Future of Timber Investing in the North Woods, A Conversation with Clark S. Binkley
In this conversation with Peter Howell, Clark Binkley draws on his long-term experience as a timberland investmentmanager to give his analysis of and forecast for timber markets and timber investing in the Northern Forest. While he is not optimistic about the current prospects for such investments, he does believe that there are some opportunities in conservation easements, residential development, and …
Read MoreHouses in the Woods: Lessons from the Plum Creek Concept Plan
Residential growth pressures have arrived at the edge of Maine’s North Woods. Kathleen Bell in this article examineschanges in the economics of rural land use in Maine. She notes that public debate over Plum Creek’s proposal for development in the Moosehead region reminds us that we need to increase our understanding of the interactions between residential growth pressures, changing landownership …
Read MoreFrom Diamond International to Plum Creek: The Era of Large Landscape Conservation in the Northern Forest
The last two decades have seen dramatic, unprecedented growth in conservation lands in the Northern Forest, stretching from upstate New York through Maine. The conservation community, in coordination with public agencies, has been able to take advantage of changing forest ownership structure and a significant expansion of public and private funding to support this increase in protected lands. As Sara …
Read MoreThe Importance of Maine for Ecoregional Conservation Planning
Ecoregional conservation planning aims at protecting biodiversity within a realistic social and economic framework. The authors of this article suggest that Maine’s forests are the ecological core of the entire Northern Appalachian/Acadian ecoregion, which spans four states and five Canadian provinces. Using mapping and mathematical models of the “human footprint,” they note that Maine has a large, contiguous, undeveloped and …
Read MoreAlternative Large-Scale Conservation Visions for Northern Maine: Interviews with Decision Leaders in Maine
Based on confidential interviews with 21 decision leaders in Maine, Elizabeth Baldwin, Laura Kenefic, and Will LaPage examine the complexity of the conflicts over alternate visions for large-scale conservation in Maine. Exploring models that may be useful for policymakers grappling with competing values for Maine’s forests, they present four alternatives: national forests, new U.S. forest service models, forest heritage areas, …
Read MoreLURC's Challenge: Managing Growth in Maine's Unorganized Territories
Maine’s Land Use Regulation commission (LURC) oversees an area covering roughly half the state. Plum Creek’s Moosehead Lake Concept Plan has brought LURC into the spotlight. Jerry Bley presents the history of this unique agency, the lands under its jurisdiction, how it has managed development, and what may lie ahead. In developing its Comprehensive Land Use Plan update, LURC needs …
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