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SANGERVILLE - The Land Use Regulation Commission can expect Plum Creek Timber Co. to submit a "new" concept plan soon for the proposed development and conservation of land in the Moosehead Lake region. The new concept plan still calls for development of two resorts and about 1,000 house lots in Unorganized Territory, but the locations for some have changed and follow recommendations made by the public at meetings and state-sponsored scoping sessions, Luke Muzzy, Plum Creek's senior land asset manager, said Monday at a meeting of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council. The Seattle-based company's original concept plan provided to LURC last year also proposed conservation of about 400,000 acres in the region as a working forest for 30 years. Muzzy said the company recognized that the conservation needs to be more permanent and is working toward that end. "The company is still at the drawing board" in addressing that issue and others, but expects to complete the document in three or four weeks, he said. For the development and conservation project to proceed, LURC, which acts as the planning board for the Unorganized Territory, must support Plum Creek's request to rezone about 426,000 acres of its land. "We'd like to take credit for the changes [in the concept plan], but we really can't because the changes came from what we heard from hundreds and hundreds of people," Muzzy said. Plum Creek now proposes to develop one of its resorts on Moose Mountain (formerly Squaw Mountain) where it owns two-thirds of the mountain on the north and west sides, according to Muzzy. He said there is a possibility that a Nordic ski facility could be located there. The second proposed resort, at Lily Bay, has been "drastically downsized," he said. As for the proposed development of lots on small ponds and in remote areas, Muzzy said the company plans to offer lots closer to organized communities, a recommendation heard repeatedly throughout the year. Affordable housing and easements for miles of recreational trails also remain in the "new" plan, according to Muzzy. "It's a big undertaking," Muzzy said of the concept plan. "When we unveil it, we want it to be done right." |