Wilderness becoming accessible

GREENVILLE, Maine -- After centuries of sameness, the legendary wilderness of northern Maine is undergoing rapid change. With increasing road access, the once-remote lakes, rivers, and backlands of the North Maine Woods became accessible to anyone with a vehicle and willingness to spend several hours exploring the country.

Once the preserve of logging companies that owned more than 90 percent of the state's land, worker camps were created deep in the forest, many of which turned into sporting camps after the logging crews left. In the early 1970s, environmental concerns ended great river drives in which acres of logs were floated down Moosehead to the West Branch of the Penobscot and on to the pulp mills downstream.

To replace the river drives, Great Northern built a ``highway through the woods" -- the gravel-packed Golden Road, linking several smaller ``tote" roads and providing a well-maintained surface for the logging trucks. Though private, the lumber companies have allowed sporting interests -- fishermen, hunters, rafters, and the like -- use of the roads for access to the wilderness. Some 450 campsites remain in the woods.

Today, with relatively easy access, the grab is on for Maine's wilderness as one of the last recreational frontiers in the Northeast. The largest proposed change by far is the Plum Creek development, the largest ever in Maine's 10-million-acre wilderness. House lots sold fast on First Roach Pond in Kokadjo, and a revised plan covering 421,000 acres includes 975 house lots in the region, along with the betterment of recreational land.

The first 28 lots of the First Roach Pond development, priced from $65,000 to $125,000, sold almost immediately four years ago, even without advertising, a sign to all interests of the appetite for Maine's remaining wilderness. Local residents are wary of the development, even with its promises that the region will maintain its traditional uses for the land, but many agree with Penny Legere, a lifelong native of Greenville, who says, ``It's extremely hard to make a living here, especially now with woods work dying out. If Plum Creek has the potential for bringing in jobs, then it could be a good thing for us."

The Appalachian Mountain Club, the Boston-based environmental organization dedicated to the interests of hikers, paddlers, and nonmotorized ecotourism, purchased another parcel -- 37,000 acres. The land, called Little Lyford Pond, which entails sporting camps between Greenville and Baxter State Park, represents the largest undertaking in the AMC's 120-year history.

``So far so good with them," said Al Cowperthwaite, who grew up in northern Maine and is director of North Maine Woods, a coalition of landowners (including AMC) dedicated to managing the public use of the woods. ``It's a change, but so far it's working out. We work with them, and it's going well .

``Appalachian Mountain Club has 9,000 members, and more and more of them are coming up to the area from Boston and New Hampshire. As a land manager, trying to have the different users get along -- like hunters and people who don't hunt -- is going to be a challenge. As I say, so far so good. But change is coming. That's for sure."