Dear Friends,

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of the Maine Woods Initiative News, a new electronic newsletter designed to help keep you up-to-date on the Appalachian Mountain Club's work in Maine's 100-Mile Wilderness region.

The Maine Woods Initiative is the largest conservation and recreation effort the AMC has ever undertaken in its 129-year history. It is succeeding thanks to support from our neighbors in Piscataquis County; local educators; state, town and county representatives; the Maine Congressional delegation; AMC members; donors, and our colleagues in the conservation community. Together, we are accomplishing great things.

Best Wishes,
Walter Graff
AMC Deputy Director

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  • undefinedAMC’s Maine Woods Initiative received a huge boost this summer when Congress approved $4.5 million in Forest Legacy program funding (PDF) for AMC’s 37,000 acre Katahdin Iron Works project.  This funding would not have been possible without the assistance of the Trust for Public Land and support of U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, Congressman Michael Michaud, the state of Maine, the towns of Greenville and Brownville, the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, and many other local and regional partners and supporters.
     
  • AMC will be designating at least 10,000 acres of its KIW property as an ecological reserve, protecting the upper West Branch of the Pleasant River, important natural communities, and viewsheds along the Appalachian Trail. Read about our ongoing ecological inventory.
     
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  • undefinedMembers of the press attended a briefing on the Maine Woods Initiative in late June, and toured the KIW property to learn more about forest management, trail construction, ecological monitoring and recreational opportunities on the property. Community leaders from Piscataquis County joined an evening reception and dinner on the second day of the event.
     
  • AMC teamed up with the Evergreen Enrichment Collaborative to provide an outdoor skills and safety program for 5th and 6th graders from Greenville and Guilford. The program was based out of AMC's remote Moose Point Cabin on Long Pond.
     
  • As a landowner and community member, AMC participated in local scoping sessions on issues that should be considered in reviewing Plum Creek Land Company’s concept plan proposal for 426,000 acres in the Moosehead Lake region.  The sessions are sponsored by the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC).  Review AMC's comments (PDF) during the scoping session.
     
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  • undefinedAMC continues to expand recreational opportunities on our KIW property.  New fly fishing, paddling, and mountain biking opportunities have been developed in 2005. Little Lyford Pond Camps are open for late season fly-fishing and for peak fall foliage hiking. The camps remain open through October 30 and reopen for the winter season in mid-December.
     
  • AMC's trail crew was hard at work this summer, creating a new trail linking the Little Lyford Pond Camps parking area to the Laurie's Ledge Trail and working on a trail on Indian Mountain. More than 10 miles of new trail have been completed on the KIW property.
     
  • Meet Mainer Gerry Whiting, AMC's Maine Woods Initiative project manager.
     
  • Chuck and Rose James joined the AMC staff in mid-August as the new resident managers of Little Lyford Pond Camps. Both have strong connections to the outdoors and to the Moosehead-area community, and they are excited to take the reins at LLPC. Chuck has worked as a Baxter State Park ranger and as a wildlife deputy warden with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. He recently retired from a long career with the Millinocket police force. Rose, a Greenville native, has also worked at Baxter, and she and her family have a long history of working at Maine sporting camps. We'll have a more in-depth profile of Chuck and Rose in our next newsletter. Meanwhile, give them a hearty welcome the next time you're at Little Lyford.
     
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  • undefinedAMC and Huber Resources are collaborating on our second year of timber harvesting on the KIW property using Maine based crews and supplying Maine mills.  With the assistance of Huber we have developed a long-term timber management plan.