Introduction of State Employees / Planning Team
• David Soucy,
• Tom Traws, Chief of Silvicultre
• Stebve
• Joe Wiley, Fish and Wildlife
• Vern Labbe
• Jim Frohn
• George Powel
• Steven Richardson
• Brian Ronson - ATV Coordinator
• Andy Cudco - MNAP Envirnmentalis
• Tim Hall
• Cathy Eickaberg
• John Titus
• Cindy Basti, Planner
• John Smith

Vern - description of the four planning units and smaller parcels
• Rocky Lake
• Patrick Lake
• Great Heath
• Donnell
• Tilden Pond (added recenlty)
• Cutler
• Osborne, etc.

Overview - John Titus
Required to have a management plan for multiple uses.
Overdue on plan updates.
Using the regional approach
• efficiency
• regional decisions about priorities
Steps
• inventory
• public involvement
• public advisory committee
• setting management practices
Donnell Pond has had two meetings - will use the input for this regional plan
Hope to complete the plan by the end of the year.

Andy Cutco
• prepare natural resource inventories
• monitoring ecological reserves (Donnel Pond, Spring River Lake, Cutler, Rocky Lake)
• Will be conducting field work this summer
• Question: What determines classification as an ecological reserve?
• Unique and important natural features
• Status is revisited 10 years after establishment date

Cindy Basky - Chief Planner
• Prepare plans for state properties
• have specialists in wildlife, silviculture, recreation
• Tim Hall - Parks Northern Manager

George Powel - Director of the Boating program
• advisory role
• help with establishing new boating facilities

Bryan Bronson - ATV Coordinator
• Trying to balance access and enviromental protection
• work with ATVs and snowmobiles

Integrated Resource Policy - document that guides the process

Questions and Comments

Statement: Concerned that Public Reserve Lands are taking away my access to beaver ponds with my ATV. As they expand I am losing my opportunities.

Regional strategy allows us to draft consistent policies and streamline land use designations. Plans invariably run against some private needs.

Withrock (?) Morton: who has a key to the gate that divides Cutler property from my property. Someone came down to burn the meadow and made a mess of my property getting around the gate (since they did not have a key). Jonesboro answering machine doesn't work. Other phones are out of service. 827-1816 :

Jim Fisher: Concerned about growing system of illegal ATV trails. Plan should have policies for dealing with this problem. Additional information offered by Ashby Bladen

Several park employees noted their inspection of the site.

Judy East, WCCOG - Encourage coordination with MDOT, CADC, Tourism and others.. John Noll, Judy East and Jim Fisher can allocate time to this initiative.

Noted. Will talk about coordinating contracts

Machias sportsman association: want to improve the landing. This is the deep water site and want to insure that power boats will still have access. Would like room for six vehicles with trailers.

Sonny Beal, Columbia - Long Pond - Is there an intention to block boat access? The parking area is too small. Need more signage. The pond has a lot of bass (illegally stocked). Want better access for trailers.
This is a traditional site. The location is quite dangerous, so it will not be designated. Want to relocate the site.

Charlie Hitchings Cherryfield - people at the byway want access and are concerned about safety.
Want motor boat access to Spring River Lake
Concerned about illegal bass stocking. People are allowed to catch bass in any number.
Would the department support horsepower restrictions?
Fisheries: Want to allow 25 to 30 horsepower limit instead of 10. Many boat owners cannot afford two motors and need a bigger one for other places. Spring River Lake - stocking with Brown Trout. Camp owners have better access than public. Stocking may stop because of the dissimilar access(???) Rocky Lake - have heard that there is some consideration for change in use of boat launch. We support public access for back in access. Want to have a bigger parking area. Second Hadly lake - access is rough and narrow. A new culvert is damaging the road.
Response about the culvert - the plan is to block off that section of the road that is currently a swamp. This is not a place to be driving a vehicle. The 1989 plan called for protection of the wild character.

Jacob Vendesandt: Support having a mix of pond access types. Some ponds should have carry in access only to preserve the experience.

Gary Darling: some ponds are spoiled when access is opened up.

Judy East - this plan should take into account the watershed coalition management plans.

Bill Cherry - Machias River watershed - management of the riparian zone on state lands is important as well. Past experience with blowdowns was resulting in damage to the pond. Changed management practices with 660 foot buffers with limitations on cutting to 30%. Effort was to preserve the "basil area". New practice reduce problem with blowdown, supported higher wildlife denisity. Downeast is having a lot of landowner changes. Forest practices are undoing some of the good practices of the past. Rocky Lake is being harvested very aggressively. International Paper has experimented with designated trails for ATVs.
The state wants to encourage more ATV trails. Need to work with ATV clubs for self regulation.

Club... provided two new landings on the Pleasant River. Support Rick Jordans comments on public access to public lands.
There will always be public access, but some areas will be non-motorized.

Dick Fenly - want to discuss the HC Haynes additiuon to the lands. Coming to the Bureau through the Nature Conservance. The 10,000 acres may be classified as ecological reserve. Current access from Route 182 would be gated. Access might be limited to non-motorized use. This would be a real loss to the 16 lease camps. Owners are paying $30,000 to purchase and easement for access to the camp. One camp is six miles back. Concerned that I will lose my long standing trapping access due to ecological reserve designation. Can there be a permit system for certain designated uses? Used to trap on Shelala Bog, but cannot go there any more.
If the land is not an ecological reserve, then your suggestions are very helpful. If the decision is made that highest use is preservation, then there will be fewer options.

Easement by adverse prescription -
Bureau respects property rights. Prescriptive easements are difficult to prove, generally requiring a court of law.

Nancy Stern of the Nature Conservancy - don't own the land yet, might get it in December, 2005. The practically road-less area might be set to ecological reserve area. Haynes is working with camp owners to protect leases. There is no intention to make the entire 10,000 acres in ecological reserve.

Bill Cherry - Proactive approach with ATVs may help head off illegal use
Bill Corliss - Sunrise Trails Club - Have created a large network of trails. Need an ATV trail across the Donnell Pond unit to connect the network.
.... Many new dirt roads have been constructed along the Narraguagus were constructed by Haynes for logging. The roads are not well constructed and maintained. Is there a chance of closing or narrowing some of these roads?
Yes, we have removed and blocked roads. Some roads are maintained for recreational access. Make and effort to establish roads where year round use is possible. We seed-down roads when we close them.

Machias ATV club - the clubs can provide free support for trail maintenance. Club also helped with fire control. Our club has had some success in getting land owner cooperation.

Wayne Shaw - Downeast Salmon Federation - over 400 members. Running the downeast rivers land trust. Encourage expansion of public reserve lands. Concerned about ATV trails. Concerned about violations of clean water act from abutting land owners - Cranberry and Blueberry owners. Encourage BPL to survey boundaries, consider land swaps for sensitive locations.
Small lots have not had general management plans prescriptive use. These may be surveyed. The diagonal across the great heath is not well established. Currently 100% of the heath is ecological reserve. Some of it may be opened for additional use in thefuture
Chair of the Columbia Comp Plan Committee - land is in protection.

Have you heard about tracks coming up from Ellsworth to Cherrfield?
The rumor is active. We don't have any facts.

Thank you for your management of the properties. I cannot walk into the areas as I used to. I encourage you to build roads and ramps for older users. Even where there are no camps, historical use should play a role in planning.

Jim Fisher - need to include in the plan a set of strategies or contingency plans to deal with invasive aquatics. Prevention programs are not strong now. It is unclear what the state will do when ponds are infested.
Response: Some people raise this issue just to keep motor boats off of specific lakes.

Cutler Trail Club - any plans for burning along Cutler Stream. The area needs burning.

Natural Resources Council of Maine - Is there a plan for dealing with illegal trails? Building trails may not alleviate illegal use. It can encourage illegal use with side trails off of legal trails.

Need to work with ATV clubs to create trails. Blocking trails is very difficult.

Don Springer - East Machias Watershed Council - Visited the Rocky Lake Unit and cleaned it up. A high school group made a mess, burned an outhouse.
There may be legal action against the teens. This is a recreation management issue.

Gary Darling - Downeast Trail Riders - want to know about other opportunities for public involvement.
We want to know when the club meetings are held so that we can attend.

Ashby Bladen -been waiting for 10 years for a management plan for Tunk Lake. Read a list of specific questions about the Donnell Pond-Tunk Lake unit. Also read a number of general questions.
• Abutting properties
• Plan for additional purchases
• How do we assure that plans are completed on schedule
• Suggest keeping an advisory committee in place.
Request that the friends group provide answers as well as questions.
Is there a chance that the departments can pool their resources to hire someone to monitor the facilities.
There are some volunteer groups that help to monitor places. This has been much more effective than paid staff.
How much money is raised through the Pittman act??

Closing remarks
Best way to work through the issues is to have open, constructive conversation.
Next discussions will be more difficult. Staff will have recommendations. Some oxes well be gored.
The worse thing that can happen is people staying home.