The debate rages with both sides holding fast to their ideas and beliefs. Good debate is healthy and the longer this debate continues the more time many of us will have a chance to hear the rest of the story.
Without trying to sound like I am calling some liars, there is some extremely valuable information that doesn’t seem to making the papers or even being discussed in committee hearings.
One major issue that seems to be getting swept under the rug that I think is perhaps a bigger issue than whether or not Governor Baxter would have wanted to allow hunting, trapping, snowmobiles, etc., is whether it’s a good deal financially.
Before I give you the facts and figures of the financial arrangements as clearly as I can understand them, all I ask is that you look at this deal as if it were your investment – because it is.
Let’s clear up one lie that I have read several times and it appears again today in an article in the Bangor Daily News. Maine residents are not looking at acquiring 6,015 acres of land, including Katahdin Lake, for nothing. We are losing 7,400 acres of public land as part of the deal. But I want to be fair about this. The complicated land swap would ultimately yield the State of Maine $5.5 million. There are no guarantees in this deal that this $5.5 million would be spent on purchasing replacement public lands. So, let’s assume that it will. Is this a good deal?
Gardner Land Co. owns the 6,015 acres around Katahdin Lake. Granted it is a beautiful piece of property with very valuable timber on it. This deal, and it is complicated, would give Gardner Land Co. 21,000 acres of prime forested land for harvesting, in exchange for their 6,015. Not looking so good? Maybe you still think it’s worth the trade.
The Trust for Public Land, is negotiating the deal raising money through private donation to acquire the 21,000 acres of forest land which includes 7,400 of Maine Public Reserved Land, also well forested.
It breaks down this way. In essence the TPL purchases 6,015 acres including Katahdin Lake for $13,000,000.00 or $2,161.26 per acre. Granted, the $13 million is private donations.
To ultimately end up with the Katahdin parcel the TPL is using the $13 million dollars to purchase multiple pieces of land, including the public land piece owned by Maine. The exchange is for land valued at $2,161 per acre vs. land with a value of $619.00 per acre. One heck of a deal for Gardner Land Co.! Gardner Land has already indicated that if this deal goes through, they will have land and timber to cut and keep their industry thriving for another 10 years.
You may still say that it doesn’t matter because it is all private money purchasing the land. Well, not completely true. Don’t forget the 7,400 acres of public lands. Estimates are, Maine residents will yield a whopping $5.5 million for its 7,400 acres or $743.24 per acre. A far cry from the nearly $2,200 per acre Gardner gets but the bottom line is what will $5.5 million do for you and me.
There are no guarantees as I said before that lawmakers have to use the $5.5 million for replacement land. We can only assume. And the big question is will $5.5 million come close to buying up enough land to replace what we are giving up? I doubt it! If you don’t think replacing this public land is important, your vision is skewed and one-sided.
So that’s the deal. Do you still think it is a good deal? Perhaps you do and that is fine. We are all entitled to our opinions as to perceived value. I think that it is by far an outstanding deal for Gardner and I don’t hold anything against them for brokering this deal. Afterall, they aren’t being asked to sacrifice anything. I simply don’t think that for what Maine will yield in this deal is worth the sacrifice.
In addition, there is one more issue that I have to question that is some people’s perception as to what is considered wildlife. I have heard over and over again that Governor Baxter’s dream was to have a park where everything is forever wild. There is a cross over point to which wild animals lose there wildness because of the absence of natural predation.
Man is a natural predator of the deer and bear and many so-called game animals. We have been since the beginning of time. We ate them and continue to eat them for sustenance. This is the natural order of things and the vast majority of Americans recognized and approve of the practice.
When you remove a predator like this from nature’s equation, the wild factor is gone. We end up with a glorified animal park. Is this what we want? Is it natural and are animals wild because we can walk up to them and feed them from our hands? I could argue that we are doing much of our wildlife a disservice by not allowing them to be wild. It is healthy for them to fear their predators.
Case in point. Last summer my wife and I, along with our son and his 4 children ventured from Bangor to Baxter Park for an afternoon excursion. We packed a lunch and decided to have a picnic with the kids.
We landed at Abol Campground. Once there we opted to eat our lunch and take a short hike with the grandkids. While eating, a deer walked out of the woods across the road from where we were sitting, to within a few feet of us. I stood up and grabbed my camera. I walked to the edge of a more wooded area to get a picture.
This was insane! The deer stopped only about 20 feet from where I stood with my
camera. I took a picture, the one shown to the right, while she was going to the bathroom – a natural occurence.
I took my camera down and began to talk to the deer and soon realized I was smack dab in the middle of a photo opportunity that anyone can get by simply going to the zoo. This deer had not a care whether I was there or any of the kids. She milled about for a while and left, totally unafraid and far from anything that I would remotely call WILD!
I can see this at a zoo. Pesonally, I think that Baxter can and should be shared by ALL Maine residents and non-residents in a civil and responsible manner. You can drop the wild sell. Baxter is no more of a forever-wild parcel of real estate than the Granby Zoo – well maybe it is a bit different but wild animals don’t allow natural predators to walk up to them.
Previous posts on Baxtergate – here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Tom Remington
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