Meeting for Public Comment on Management and Opportunities on Public Lands in the St. John-Allagash Region

August 9, 2017

For more information contact: Jim Vogel at: 207-287-2163

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Parks and Lands is seeking comments on management of Public Lands in the St. John-Allagash Region.

The Bureau is holding a Public Scoping Meeting for the upcoming St. John-Allagash Region Management Plan. This plan will guide the Bureau?s management of public lands in this region?which includes Gero Island, Telos, Chamberlain Lake, and Round Pond Public Reserved Lands, as well as several smaller Public Lots, most near the Town of Allagash. All of these lands are managed for multiple uses including recreation, wildlife habitat, scenic and natural areas and timber production.

Public scoping meeting:

Wednesday, August 30 6:00-8:00 p.m. Bureau of Parks and Lands Northern Region Office 45 Radar Road, Ashland

The upcoming scoping meeting is the first of two public meetings that will be held on the St. John-Allagash Region Management Plan. At this meeting we will be asking the audience: What is working well on these public lands? What concerns and issues should be addressed in the Plan? What vision should guide management of these lands over the next 15 years? The Bureau will work with the St. John-Allagash Region Plan Advisory Committee to develop a draft Plan. Once a final draft of the St. John-Allagash Plan is written, a public meeting will be held to receive comments, sometime in the spring or early summer of 2018.

Bureau Properties Included in the Public Management Plan Effort

  • The 22,760-acre Telos Public Reserved Lands Unit is at the south end of Chamberlain Lake and adjacent to Baxter State Park. Several campsites are located near wild brook trout ponds on the Unit.
  • The 3,175 acre Gero Island Ecological Reserve comprises most of the Gero Island Unit, along with more than 700 acres surrounding Chesuncook Village. Several boat access campsites (part of the Penobscot River Corridor) are on the island.
  • The 10,300-acre Chamberlain Unit is divided among eight separate parcels on Chamberlain, Eagle and Allagash Lakes. This Unit includes the 2,890-acre Chamberlain Lake Ecological Reserve, between Chamberlain and Eagle Lakes, crossed by the historic Eagle Lake tramway and close to the famous Eagle Lake locomotives.
  • The 20,800-acre Round Pond Unit surrounds the Allagash River about 25 miles downstream of Churchill Lake and dam. The Plan area also includes seven smaller public lots up to 1,000 acres in size, most located within a few miles of the Town of Allagash. Most of these public lands are adjacent to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, managed by the Bureau under a Plan adopted in 2012. The properties in the Plan region serve important roles for hunting and fishing opportunities as well as motorized trail networks and destinations.

To see the webpage for the St. John-Allagash Region Management Plan, go to http://www.maine.gov/dacf/stjohn-allagash. You will find the current management plans for the Gero Island, Telos and Round Pond Public Lands and information on the Eagle Lake and Gero Island Ecological Reserves. The page will be updated throughout the planning process with draft plans and meeting minutes.

For more information about this meeting or to be added to the mailing list for the plan, please contact:

Jim Vogel Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands 22 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333 Jim.Vogel@maine.gov 207-287-2163