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Progress Report on Maine Woods Initiative – November 2004

Pond at Little Lyford Pond Camps. Photo: Wendy KraussSince announcing its Maine Woods Initiative in December 2003, the AMC has moved forward on the Initiative’s key themes of recreation, conservation, sustainable forestry and economic development.

Recreation

  • Little Lyford Lodge and Cabins is on track to finish its best season ever. AMC completed major renovations, including the addition of bunkhouse space and upgrading the water system. LLPC won an Editor’s Choice Award this year from the Yankee Travel Guide to New England, and has received coverage in the Boston Globe and National Geographic Adventure.
  • AMC trail crews were busy this summer clearing ten miles of new trails around Indian Mountain, including a five mile cross-country skiing and hiking trail around the mountain, and a new hiking trail to the summit. The AMC has been working with local snowmobile clubs, including the Moosehead Riders, to make sure snowmobile trails are well signed and to keep ski trails and snowmobile trails separate wherever possible.

Conservation


  • The AMC expects to set aside roughly 10,000 acres as a non-motorized ecological reserve with a focus on habitat protection. This is as large as the biggest reserves currently designated on Maine state lands. The reserve would protect the headwaters of the West Branch of the Pleasant River, a Class A river, and would abut land already protected around Gulf Hagas, the Appalachian Trail and The Hermitage.
  • The AMC completed an ecological assessment of the KIW property this summer, which provided information on ecologically signficant areas on the property and will help guide future management. The property has a high level of biological diversity, with 30 distinct natural vegetation communities mapped during the survey ranging from lowland bogs, marshes and swamps to subalpine summits. Mature hardwood and softwood forests contain 300-year-old spruce, 400-year-old cedar, and sugar maple and yellow birch exceeding three feet in diameter. Among the most significant areas is Caribou Bog, a 300-acre peatland in the southern part of the property that was reputed to be the last known outpost of caribou in the state. Pink pyrola (Pyrola asarifolia) was found flowering in early July along the West Branch of the Pleasant River and is a species of special concern in Maine.

Sustainable Forestry 


  • The AMC hired Huber Resources Corporation as its forest management consultant in March. Huber has completed a forest inventory and is developing a sustainable forest management plan that ensures natural forest composition and structure, maintains and enhances biological diversity, protects water quality, supports the integrity of reserve areas, and complements recreational uses of the property.
  • This summer the AMC completed an initial harvest of 5,300 cords of low-grade hardwood, and was sold in turn to a Mainemills. The AMC paid a Maine logging crew to conduct the harvest, under the supervision of Huber Resources. We intend to use our forestry operation as an educational tool to broaden awareness of sustainable harvesting techniques, and how they can co-exist with other land management goals like recreation.

Community Outreach


  • The AMC continues to engage local communities and user groups near the Maine Woods Initiative project area. AMC officials have presented details of the project to the Selectmen of Greenville, Brownville and Milo, the County Commissioners of Piscataquis County, and the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council. In March, 18 county officials, educators, and businesspeople visited AMC operations in northern New Hampshire, including the AMC’s new Highland Center at Crawford Notch, to learn about AMC’s programs and experience in working with local communities.
  • Over sixty community leaders from across Piscataquis County heard about progress on the Maine Woods Initiative during a reception the evening of October 1 in Greenville. Among the speakers were Andy Falender, Executive Director of the AMC, Walter Graff, AMC Deputy Director, and Will Hill, AMC Board Vice President. Greenville Town Manager John Simko and Brownville Selectman Dennis Green also commented on their support for the project. Members of the audience also had an opportunity to meet members of AMC’s Board of Directors, which held its annual retreat at Little Lyford Lodge and Cabins.
  • The AMC is working in cooperation with the towns of Greenville and Brownville and local snowmobile clubs on planning for an upcoming 100-Mile Wilderness Dog Sled Race, scheduled for February 2004.
Photo: Wendy Krauss