"Big Idea" Finds Its Place in Maine
Appalachia, June 2005
In late 2001, the club hired Gerry Whiting, a forester with a long history in the state, to help identify suitable land and manage the project in Maine. Whiting, who worked on an AMC hut crew in the 1960s, used his contacts among industrial landowners to identify large parcels that might be put up for sale. At the same time, he started going into communities to talk about the AMC's vision, assuring people that the club wanted to provide a mix of recreation, timber management, and land conservation. "It's critically important, as the AMC grows this project, that the club be a part of the community, an entity that has the community and the region's best interest at heart," Whiting says.
At last, in 2003, opportunity knocked. International Paper decided to sell 37,000 acres of land near Moosehead Lake at the southern end of the fabled 100-Mile Wilderness, southwest of Baxter State Park and within view of Katahdin. The parcel lies astride the Barren-Chairback portion of the Appalachian Trail corridor, abuts Gulf Hagas, and lies close to Baker and Whitecap Mountains (the highest peaks between Bigelow and Katahdin). The West Branch of the Pleasant River, described as an "ecological treasure trove" by a state fisheries biologist, flows through the property. The tract is known for the former Katahdin Iron Works, a thriving nineteenth-century enterprise built on ore mining and smelting. Remnants of its big stone kilns still survive as a state historic site a few miles east of the property. It also is home to a former logging outpost turned sporting camp — Little Lyford Pond Camps — which the AMC had purchased earlier in June of that year. With the help of Governor John Baldacci and the Maine Department of Conservation, and with negotiation and financing support from the Trust for Public Land, the AMC emerged as a leading bidder for the property. Citizens Bank and the Open Space Institute agreed to assist with financing. On December 9, 2003, the club closed on the purchase of the land for $14.2 million and publicly launched the Maine Woods Initiative in an event hosted by the Governor at the State House in Augusta.
The Katahdin Iron Works (KIW) tract, as the property is known, is located in the heart of Piscataquis County, where a declining timber industry and the loss of manufacturing jobs have eaten away at the local economy. Civic leaders and business owners in the nearby towns of Brownville and Greenville were seeking ways to reinvigorate their communities. When Whiting talked about the prospects of new jobs coming from an outdoor recreation area, people listened. "The communities were looking for ways that backcountry recreation and nature-based tourism might be embraced to allow them to sustain the traditional sense of who they are, yet allow them to build a new, more vibrant component to their economic base," Whiting says.
The former forester logged many miles and countless hours chatting up citizens and visiting town councils, county commissioners, Kiwanis Clubs, and other civic organizations, explaining the AMC's vision and building the relationships he knew would be the key to its success. He made a special effort to get to know the leaders of the local snowmobile clubs, assuring them that a major trail corridor through the KIW tract would remain open and that the AMC was willing to accommodate the sport that has become an economic driver in the region. He surprised some people when he explained that the AMC would continue managing a portion of the land for timber and would hire local loggers.
Throughout 2004, the AMC's directors and staff continued to work on winning local support. According to Graff, the club knew it had to "match the culture of the region" if its concept was to take hold. In March, the club hosted a tour of its Pinkham Notch and Highland Center facilities in New Hampshire for a group of Piscataquis County leaders. The group got to see firsthand the various components of the club's work, from managing the huts and engaging in search and rescue to conducting environmental education and forest research. The Mainers and the AMC members held brainstorming sessions about the Maine Woods Initiative and how they could work together. "We told them who we are, what our values are, and that we were seeking their advice about how we can be a positive influence," Whiting recalls. "They understood the opportunity for more than just snow-machine recreation when they saw the economic impact of hikers."
According to Whiting, the club's relationship-building efforts are paying off in a region where environmental groups are often viewed with suspicion. "The majority of people in the region no longer look at us as a conservation group from away," he said. Indeed, the Maine press has highlighted the friendly response from local residents who see the club's investment in their region as bringing business opportunities. In another sign of its support in the state, the Land for Maine's Future Board committed $1 million toward the project.
