July 12, 2004
Steven Rowe
Attorney General of Maine
6 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333
Roland Daniel Martin
Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
41 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333
Alec Giffen
Director, Maine Forest Service
22 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333
Dear Members of the Baxter State Park Authority,
The Friends of Baxter State Park would like to express its support for several recent decisions and actions of the Authority, its committees, and park staff.
First, we support the direction being taken to manage visitor use at Sandy Stream Pond and Stump Pond to protect wildlife and reduce visitor impacts to soil and vegetation. Increased education, narrowing existing trail corridors, and restricting visitor use to designated trails are all legitimate and necessary management strategies given current visitor use levels and behaviors. They are also congruent with Governor Baxter’s concept of the park as a sanctuary for wildlife.
Second, we support the decision to limit opening day reservations to no more than 20% of the sites for any campground. This increases equity for campers and efficiency for staff. While we believe the elimination of a single opening day should be the eventual goal, we recognize that taking some time to reach that goal will ease the transition for those accustomed to it.
(Click here for current BSP Reservation Policy and Information)
Third, we believe the evaluation of commercial use in the park was timely and necessary. Commercial use of parks and other similar areas is growing. Commercial use is a recognized use of the park provided there is an appropriate balance with noncommercial use and the goals of the park as expressed through the Deeds of Trust are not compromised. Commercial use should be monitored regularly.
Finally, we support the park’s commitment to use a formal planning framework, such as the “limits of acceptable change” to address the various problems with day use throughout the park, especially the Katahdin area. The use of such a step-by-step rational process provides a defensible basis for important decisions. We look forward to listening and contributing our views as part of the public participation process.
Sincerely,
Charles Jacobi
President
Cc:
Irvin C. Caverly, Jr., Park Director
Gary Trask, Chairman of Advisory Comm.
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