LURC deliberates about Plum Creek

So, today is the day.  Plum Creek's massive development proposal is being discussed today by Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission at a two-day meeting in Bangor.  The closing arguments are being given today, and NRCM held a press conference along with Maine Audubon this morning in advance of the start of the deliberations - sharing with everyone many of the public comments about Lily Bay and why so many people want this beautiful wilderness area preserved.

I am listening to the hearings online as I do other work in my office today.  You can listen in at http://www.maine.gov/doc/lurc/commissionwebcast.shtml.  I can't believe that after more than three years, thousands of public comments (both written and presented in front of LURC at last fall's public hearings), and many updates of maps and factsheets that I have posted on our website, that the time for LURC's making a decision on Plum Creek has finally arrived.

I read many of the 1700 comments that were sent in during the month-long comment period this summer and was moved by the passion with which many people in the Moosehead area and from around the state and the country wrote - telling their stories and their family histories of time spent at Moosehead and on Lily Bay.  You can read some of the comments here.

I have my fingers crossed (which makes it hard to type this entry!) that LURC will do the right thing and protect Lily Bay and the Moosehead area.  As we have said all along - once this area is gone, it's gone forever.  You can't undo the development once it has begun - and for the people and wildlife who love and inhabit this area, I hope that Lily Bay is kept as wilderness and not spoiled by a 404-unit resort area.

We will keep you posted on the deliberations and all of the happenings related to Plum Creek's development proposal.  Thank you to all of you who have emailed us, attended hearings, written comments, and supported and participated in our work to protect this natural gem. 

Beth

Comments

[Beth]

Hopefully very soon! I will talk to Diano today and see when we might get something posted.

[Daisy]

Thank you. Can we get an "insider's take" from Diano soon?