Baxtergate Ovens Get Cranking

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Yesterday’s committee meeting of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to work out some kind of a compromise to the Baxter land swap (scroll for previous stories), became more of a he said, she said spit spat.

George Smith, Executive Director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, had a few choice words to say to the committee in that meeting, including some accusations that would be interesting if he could prove them.

The Bangor Daily News is carrying the complete story but essentially Smith said that the Department of Conservation was “scheming” with groups that are notoriously anti-hunting. He went further to say that the DOC had at first tried to convince Roxanne Quimby, the wealthy land barron who has bought up huge amounts of lands and abruptly closed them off to hunting, to purchase the Katahdin Lake parcel. Smith added that when that didn’t happen, the proposed deal now being discussed was formulated. He also accused DOC of trying to work with Quimby to buy up more of Maine’s land to close off to recreation.

Pat McGowan, head of the DOC, called those accusations “hogwash” and made an attempt to defend himself and the actions of his department.

Smith further accused DOC staff of conducting secret meetings in which they divided up lands into categories of which ones should be held as preserves and which ones would be left open. Again, McGowan denied any such thing.

*Previous Posts on Baxtergate*

The Shortsightedness of Maine’s Leaders

Two Opposing Sides Speak Out on Baxtergate

Clearing Up Two Misconceptions About Baxtergate

Putting Maineâ€™s Wilderness In Perspective or Fighting Fire With Fire

Baxtergate Debate Continues

Millinocket Continues Its Battle

Adding a Personal Touch to Baxtergate

Many Small Percentages = One Big Percentage