Before we get into the actual minutes of the first meeting of the Maine Backcountry Project, I want to take this post to list those invited to attend this meeting and are so listed as, “Maine Backcountry Project Peer Review Group Invitees”.

I you will recall, we talked about the group in earlier articles. It was of significant interest evidently to the Kendall Foundation as they wanted a group that would oversee the actions of the Backcountry Project.

The DOC informed Kendall that they had put together a list of would-be prospects.

Steve will be assembling a peer review group by July 31, 2005 to help guide each phase of the project. In addition to the Nature Conservancy and the Wildlands Project, examples of possible invitees include the Northern Forest Alliance, the Appalachian Mountain Club, Forest Society of Maine, Downeast Lakes Land Trust, the Wilderness Society, Sweetwater Trust, Maine Recreational Guides Association, Natural Resources Council of Maine, Sierra Club, Maine Sporting Camp Association, Maine Audubon Society, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Baxter State Park and the Maine Appalachian TrailClub and state agency representatives such as from the Maine Natural Area Program and Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. We would be very pleased if the Kendall Foundation would also join us.

I had noted before as well that the clear majority, if not all players in this perceived group, are only preservationists/conservationists with no representation of forest product businesses and other recreational interest groups, afterall, this does concern these other interests.

Here’s the list compiled by DOC.

Maine Backcountry Project Peer Review Group Invitees

Dave Publicover
Appalachian Mountain Club
5 Joy Street Boston, MA 02108

Bryan Wentzell
Appalachian Mountain Club
93 Second St. 2nd Floor
Hallowell, Maine04347 04347

J.T. Horn
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
18 On the Common, Unit 7
P.O. Box 312
Lyme, NH 03768

Jensen Bissell
Baxter State Park
64 Balsam Drive
Millinocket, Maine 04462

Greg Shute
Chewonki Foundation
485 Chewonki Neck Road
Wiscasset, Maine 04578

Bob Cummings
Maine Appalachian Trail Club
Route 209
Phippsburg, Maine

Sally Stockwell
Maine Audubon Society
20 Gilsland Farm Road
Falmouth, Maine 04105

Ralph Knoll
Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
22SHS
Augusta, Maine 04333

Andy Cutko
Maine Natural Areas Program
93SHS
Augusta, Maine 04333

Dave Mention
Maine Island Trail Association
58 Fore St, Bldg 30, 3rd Floor
Portland, ME 04101

Bob Croce
Spencer Pond Camps
20806 Spencer Pond Road
East Middlesex Township, Maine 04441

Steve Keith
Downeast Lakes Land Trust
P.O. Box 75
4 Water Street
Grand Lake Stream, ME 04637

Bart DeWolf
Elliotsville Planation Inc. 5
Bear Trail
Gouldsboro, ME 04607

Liz Burroughs
FOB 775 115 Franklin
Bangor, Maine 04002

Alexandra Conover
Maine Wilderness Guides Organization
c/o North Woods Ways
2293 Elliottsville Road
Willimantic, ME 04443

Cathy Johnson
Natural Resource Council of Maine
3 Wade Street
Augusta, Maine

Nancy Sferra
The Nature Conservancy
Fort Andross
14 Maine Street, Suite 401
Brunswick, Maine 04011

Sandy Neilly
PO Box 102
Greenville, Maine

Kathleen Fitzgerald
Northeast Wilderness Trust
14 Beacon Street, Suite 506
Boston, MA 02108

Jeremy Schaefer
The Wilderness Society
93 Second St. 2nd Floor
Hallowell, Maine04347 04347

lan Burnes
Northern Forest Alliance
3 Wade Street
Augusta, Maine

Kate Williams
Northern Forest Canoe Trail
P.O. Box 565
Waitsfield, VT 05673

Karen Woodsum
Sierra Club
1 Pleasant St. Portland, Me 04101

Sigrid Pickering
Sweetwater Trust
Faneuil Hall Marketplace
4 South Market Building, 4th floor
Boston, MA 02109-1610

Rebecca Oreskes
White Mountain National Forest
300 Glen Road
Gorham, New Hampshire

I would like to make note of who was invited, whether or not they attended because I believe it reflects on the mindset of the DOC, including Karin Tilberg, Steve Spencer, Patrick McGowan and others when it comes to the plans of the Backcountry Project.

On this list there are 25 people invited representing 24 organizations. Of the 25 invited 6 organizations are out-of-state groups. They are the AMC out of Boston, this in addition to a representative from Maine, The Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Lyme, N.H., the Northeast Wilderness Trust out of Boston, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail out of Vermont, Sweetwater Trust again a Boston group and White Mountain National Forest.

I’ll grant that a couple of these are obvious choices, ie. WMNF and the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Look at the rest. What is this saying? There is not one group or individual here to represent any other plan than to find wilderness lands for a select purpose, period.

I will remind you one more time that this meeting takes place at the DOC in Augusta. I will also remind you that this is clearly a function of the Department of Conservation under the Baldacci administration. Our tax dollars are being spent to sponsor a select group of elite preservationists whose dream is to see Maine become one giant wilderness park open to just about noone.

There is one other person of interest that was invited to become part of this peer review group to oversee the Backcountry Project. His name is Bart DeWolf representing the Elliotsville Plantation Inc.. For those of you who don’t know, Mr. DeWolf works for and respresents Roxanne Quimby.

*Previous Posts*

Grant For BackCountry Project Approved
Question Five – Who’s Going To Pay?Question Four – Is $25,000 Enough Money?
Question Three – Peer-Review Group, Who Will It Be?
Job Description – Backcountry Project Director
Integrated Resources Policy Excerpts
Grant Application For Backcountry Project – Question One
The Five Questions – Maine Backcountry Project
Wilderness Planning Initiative For Kendall Foundation – Proposal
Wilderness Planning Initiative For Kendall Foundation – Need
Wilderness Planning Initiative – Backcountry Project

Tom Remington

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