Deer Habitat Threatened. Interagencies Don’t Talk?
January 15, 2008
Maine Huts and Trails is a business, disguised as an environmentally friendly entity, out to save our planet. Well, maybe that’s a bit over the top but read what they say about themselves on their website.
Maine Huts and Trails was founded by Mainers who share a vision for preserving our state’s naturally beautiful remote areas. To that end we will build and operate a 180-mile recreational corridor from the Mahoosucs to Moosehead. The corridor will include a network of huts, trails and waterway corridors. This unique resource will preserve some of Western Maine’s best backcountry for the purposes of conservation and environmentally sensitive economic development, and ensure public access for generations to come.
Don’t believe everything you read. These “huts” turned out to be 4,500 square foot lodges equipped to handle up to 40 guests and some of what they are doing is not so much of a “conservation and environmentally sensitive economic development”.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with the project providing that it complies with the laws of the land but please, let’s stop painting a picture of this as something it isn’t.
At issue is at least one aspect of the development that has riled the dander on a few people who are saying that the project is further destroying and/or having negative impacts on deer wintering areas, called deer yards. Two lodges, (oh, sorry! Huts.) will be built. One on Flagstaff Lake and the other on the Dead River near Grand Falls.
The way the project is laid out, a 180-mile system of trails will be connected with these “huts”. Complaints are coming from those who say this project cuts right through lands utilized by the whitetail deer for winter habitat.
Ok, so either it is or it isn’t. I can’t tell you for sure. I’ve not been there. I’m somewhat familiar with the area but like everyone else, I have to rely on the ones who make the decisions that all the right ones are being made. So, are they? I have some doubts.
For those who don’t know, at least this particular part of the development has to have approval from the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC). LURC oversees projects contained in unorganized territories across the state. You would think that LURC would have all the necessary information to make the right choices.
For a project of this scope and magnitude, many aspects need to be considered, including the impact on the environment and wildlife. It appears that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have been involved in this project to assist in determining some of that impact.
In an article today in the Kennebec Journal, it says that supporters of the Huts & Trails are addressing the deer habitat issue. Evidently LURC has received comments and complaints over the past couple of weeks from people concerned with the negative impact the project is going to have on habitat. Scott Rollins, LURC permitting and compliance division manager, was quoted as saying this:
“I would say the trend is that folks don’t want the deer wintering areas impacted,”
I know it’s probably not fair to jump to any wild conclusions over one sentence uttered by someone from LURC but in all honesty, does anyone else find this comment disturbing and puzzling?
Rollins sounds as though protecting deer wintering habitat is a trendy thing to do. Is he telling us he doesn’t have a clue? Is he also telling us LURC doesn’t know what’s going on? Is LURC out of the loop with the rest of the state of Maine and in particular the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife? Who’s talking and who isn’t?
Recently a deer study group was formed in Maine, whose task it was to sit down and try to determine why there are no deer in northern and Downeast Maine. This task force was commissioned by the governor and administered by the MDIFW. The task force was comprised of an assortment of stakeholders, biologists, etc.
A formal report of the findings of this group have yet to be released but coming as no surprise, it seems the two biggest issues affecting the deer herd in Maine are too many coyotes and reductions in deer wintering habitat. I know this. Most every hunter and outdoorsman in Maine knows this. The governor must have known about it. The Fish and Game Department knows about it. Doesn’t LURC know about it? Haven’t they been told? Shouldn’t they have been told? Isn’t it vital information they should have before giving developers permission to cut a trail through the middle of a deer yard?
Maybe LURC does know about the efforts to protect deer wintering habitat and the comment was just one of callousness, uncaring and unconcern. “I would say the trend is……” Is this what LURC bases their decisions upon, trends?
If LURC is making decisions on development projects all across Maine in unorganized territories, these are areas with little population and growth, meaning more woods and wildlife. If they are not getting and receiving up to date information, I think it is about time they did. If they are, then a better choice of words to describe the importance of protecting deer yards could be utilized other than describing it as a “trend”.
Tom Remington
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[...] Deer Habitat Threatened. Interagencies Don’t Talk? Maine Huts and Trails is a business, disguised as an environmentally friendly entity, out to save our planet. Well, maybe that’s a bit over the top but read what they say about themselves on their website. [...]