When Bob Carlton sits on the deck of his home, he sees nothing but trees and the undisturbed beauty of western Maine’s High Peaks region.
The 400,000-acre expanse dotted with small towns includes 10 of the 14 highest peaks in Maine plus one of the largest swaths of roadless land in the state and part of the Appalachian Trail. Hunters, hikers, ATV riders, snowmobilers and other outdoor enthusiasts enjoy how “it’s open and free,” Carlton said.
But Carlton, a Franklin County commissioner from Freeman Township, and other residents feel a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to turn between 5,000 and 15,000 acres in the region into a National Wildlife Refuge will not benefit the region but wrest away the autonomy of local and state groups that already protect the pristine area.
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Since the Fish and Wildlife Service first floated the idea of a refuge this past spring, towns, Franklin County commissioners, loggers, outdoors groups, Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine’s congressional delegation, Gov. Janet Mills and state lawmakers from the region have all expressed either skepticism of or strong opposition to the federal government’s plan.
It mirrors previous battles in the state, such as that over the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument that was vociferously opposed before it was created in 2016 by former President Barack Obama. The fights have revealed Mainers’ almost universal passion for conservation but a deep skepticism anytime Washington gets involved.
“I get a bit nervous when the feds come and say they’re here to save me or save what I have,” Carlton said Wednesday.
More than 560 National Wildlife Refuge sites cover 95 million acres throughout the U.S., with 11 in Maine. They are generally meant to protect land for certain species. Activities permitted on each refuge usually include hunting, fishing, photography, wildlife education, boating, kayaking, snowmobiling and other pursuits.
This isn’t the first time the Fish and Wildlife Service has considered a refuge in the High Peaks region. A decade ago, one such plan was shelved due in part to a lack of acquisition funding available at the federal level, according to Paul Casey, the Fish and Wildlife Service project manager for the latest High Peaks proposal.
The agency has identified the High Peaks as critical habitat for migratory birds due to its higher-elevation forests and vast amount of undeveloped land, and Casey said the area offers research opportunities on how species adapt to a changing climate.
A High Peaks refuge could protect birds like the Blackburnian warbler and Bicknell’s thrush along with fish such as Atlantic salmon and brook trout, said Casey, who also manages the nearly 40,000-acre Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge spanning Maine and New Hampshire.
Sally Stockwell, Maine Audubon’s conservation director, also has noted the region’s “exceptional ecological value” in supporting the wildlife refuge idea.
Opponents to the proposal, which Casey noted is still in the study phase and has no formal outline yet, believe they will lose access to and control of land, especially for ATV and snowmobile use, if the federal government moves in.
Critics like Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine leader David Trahan, former state Sen. Tom Saviello and several town officials said they prefer going to Augusta rather than Washington, D.C., to solve conservation issues and that the state already has laws to protect the Bicknell’s thrush and wildlife habitat, including through the Land for Maine’s Future conservation program.
“It’s a beautiful, beautiful area,” said Steve St. Jean, chair of the Eustis Select Board. “We don’t need any more government control.”
An Aug. 3 letter from Maine’s U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, to the Fish and Wildlife Service asked it to halt the High Peaks plan and instead work with residents and the state to solve any issues, noting nearly two-thirds of the 200,000 acres originally outlined for the refuge is already conserved.
A spokesperson for Mills, a Democrat, said the governor shares the concerns “about the potential impact to public access, the potential loss of traditional uses such as hunting, snowmobiling, and forestry, as well as the potential loss of local input.”
Casey emphasized federal officials have considered feedback from several public meetings held so far on the refuge, with the Fish and Wildlife Service open to continuing to allow ATVs and snowmobiles on any new site. Regarding another sticking point, Casey said federal rules ban bear baiting — a common hunting practice here — on such a refuge.
READ MORE ABOUT THE CONSERVATION DEBATE IN MAINE
Once it chooses a formal boundary for a refuge, the Fish and Wildlife Service could approach landowners to ask if they would consider selling property or entering into easements. Casey also said an initial goal of completing a draft plan by this fall will likely get pushed closer to early 2024, meaning any final decision on a refuge will not come until later on next year.
Until then, a group of supporters, skeptics and opponents is meeting to further discuss the proposal, said Nancy Perlson, a longtime conservationist who lives in the region and is working for the Fish and Wildlife Service on community engagement on the High Peaks plan.
Will Lund, editor of The Maine Sportsman magazine, called for skeptics to “hear the feds out on this one” in a recent editorial. Perlson and Casey said other wildlife refuges have sometimes received public pushback at first before residents ultimately enjoy them.
“That anti-federal perspective is a hard one to get over, but people do get over it,” Casey added. “Over time, people realize their greatest fear isn’t realized.”