Flagstaff Region - Management Plan

The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands has developed a 15-year management plan for approximately 54,000 acres of lands known as the Flagstaff Region. The Plan was adopted in June 2007. The region roughly encompasses the area north of Farmington to the Canadian border, and east of the Rangeley Lakes Region to the Kennebec River Valley. The plan guides management activities by the Bureau on public lands at the Bigelow Preserve and Flagstaff Lake, Mount Abraham, Chain of Ponds, and several smaller Public Lots.

The Bureau began the process of developing a Management Plan for the 2013 Crocker Mountain acquisition, abutting the Bigelow Preserve, in the summer of 2014. The Plan was adopted and amended to the Flagstaff Region Plan in April 2015. The Final Flagstaff Region and Crocker Mountain Plans and Appendices are provided for download below.

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Plan Update and Review

The Bureau has completed the second Five-Year Review of the 2007 Flagstaff Region Management Plan covering the period from 2013 through 2017. The Integrated Resource Policy (IRP) requires that the Bureau, at five year intervals, report to the Advisory Committee on accomplishments and changing conditions that may warrant amendments to the plan. A Final Report on the Five-Year Review (linked below under Management Plan Review Documents), including adopted Plan amendments, was sent to the Advisory Committee on April 27, 2018.

The Five-Year Review is prepared in a table format, and is also included in the Final Report (see Appendix B). It:

Lists plan recommendations (left column), and
Actions taken (right column) to implement each recommendation; and
Identifies from the Bureau's perspective any new issues or circumstances that were not addressed in the plan that may warrant Committee discussion or action (at end of table).

The Five-Year Review table was sent to Advisory Committee members on November 16, 2017.

As described below the review table, the Bureau identified a new issue that required amendments to the plan, related to mountain bike trail requests on the Carrabassett Valley parcel of the Flagstaff Unit and adjacent portion of the Bigelow Preserve. The trail requests were submitted by the Carrabassett Valley Trails Committee. The Bureau met with the Advisory Committee on December 6, 2017 to discuss the requests and seek the members input. The meeting also included discussion of a non-motorized trail request on the Redington Lot, although no decision or Plan amendment was anticipated (permission for the trail has not been granted by the abutting landowner, as required by BPL policy, although discussions have been initiated). The meeting minutes are included in the Final Report (see Appendix C).

The Bureau then developed draft Plan amendments that would allow the mountain bike trail proposals to be implemented, with certain conditions and requirements. Finally, the Bureau held a public meeting to gather input on the proposed amendments. The meeting Agenda and sign-in sheet are provided in Appendix D of the Final Report. There were no comments in opposition to the trail proposals or the Plan amendments; therefore, no formal meeting notes were prepared. Comments were accepted for two weeks following the public meeting. Written comments were received from one individual; the comments and the Bureau’s response is included in Appendix E of the Final Report.

The Bureau will be working with the Carrabassett Valley Trails Committee as they implement the bike trail proposals. The Bureau will also be implementing a plan for monitoring bike use on the portion of the Bigelow Preserve most affected by the proposals.

Management Plan Review Documents

Crocker Mountain Management Plan Documents

Crocker Mountain Unit Management Plan - Adopted April, 2015 (PDF 1.93MB)

Appendices - Crocker Mountain Unit Management Plan - Adopted April, 2015 (PDF 2.9MB)

Scoping Meeting PowerPoint Presentation - (PDF 2MB)