3/26/99
GuernseyD@aol.com
The recent announcement of a $5 million state purchase of land from Plum Creek should be closely examined. If the Flagstaff Lake parcel is any indication, we may be getting a very raw deal. The Flagstaff land is on the upper end of a reservoir and is more often than not separated from the water by as much as a quarter mile of mud flat. There are no public roads or power lines within 5 miles. Scott Paper tried to develop the land some time back and abandoned the effort.
Since that time LURC has regulated the land to the point of virtual worthlessness. Flagstaff Lake is zoned "Management Class 2" which means that a building within 500 feet of the lake requires an entire mile of frontage. Road cost alone makes development impractical. In addition LURC rules require that an approved development must be adjacent to an existing development, further destroying the value of the Flagstaff land. Any building must be set back in the woods with no view. LURC forestry regulations are so strict along lakes that the land may have little value as forest land either. Yet our state seems bent on spending millions for such property.
The state claims to be concerned with public access, but this land has no good access potential. The state already owns over 25 miles of the Flagstaff shoreland and has a long record of restricting public access over its land, not enhancing it.
The deal involves the Trust for Public Land, one of the slickest land sharks of the super wealthy environmental complex. In 1980 the Trust made a $311,000 profit by owning two parcels in the Northwest for just one minute before reselling them the federal government. A subsequent federal Inspector General Audit Report uncovered millions of dollars of such non-profit profiteering throughout federal land deals. Nothing has been done about it. What profit does this "non-profit" expect from this Maine deal?
The governor reportedly wants to pay for this $6 million deal out of the state surplus. The money will go right to the bottom line of Plum Creek's and the Trust for Public Land's financial statement. It certainly won't be reinvested in Maine. This deal represents gross corporate welfare at its most arrogant. Wouldn't we be better spending this money on things like education so schools could buy enough books?
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