July 24, 2006
On the map | Construction begins on a hut-to-hut trail in western Maine
By Whit Richardson
About 10 miles northeast of Sugarloaf, an old fisherman's path winds along the western shore of Poplar Stream. Soon, however, the path will lead to more than just a good fishing hole. The trail is already being widened in preparation for the hikers who will use it to reach a backcountry hut to be constructed this summer. It's the first of up to 12 huts proposed for a 180-mile network of hiking paths, cross-country ski trails and paddling routes that would link the Bethel area with Moosehead Lake, potentially attracting millions of ecotourism dollars to western Maine when completed. That's the goal of the Western Mountains Foundation, which is spearheading the project ˆ but it's a goal the group admits will take several more years.
It's already taken several years just to reach this summer's milestone: The 5,300-square-foot Poplar Stream Falls hut, which received approval from the Carrabassett Valley Planning Board in May, will be the first physical manifestation of the $11 million hut-to-hut trail system Larry Warren, the foundation's president, proposed almost six years ago. (See "Mr. Warren's proposal," Dec. 9, 2002). But what seemed like an uncontroversial proposal at the time attracted unlikely critics. Members of the conservation community balked at Warren's plan to have a portion of the trail cross publicly preserved land.
However, with much of that opposition placated within the last year, the Western Mountains Foundation has moved ahead, hiring an executive director in January and preparing to begin building the system in earnest. Warren, former president of Sugarloaf/USA and a longtime Carrabassett Valley resident who was integral in the incorporation of the town in the early 1970s, says he is pleased with Carrabassett Valley's approval, but adds that it was not a total surprise. "They've been longtime supporters of the project," he says.
For Carrabassett Valley, which is the hub for the first phase of the project, the benefits of a nearby hut-and-trail system are clear. "Carrabassett Valley was incorporated and built on the premise of being a recreational community," says Bill Gilmore, Carrabassett Valley's assessor. "We've been behind this program since day one and we think it brings a lot of added value to this community."
Indeed, David Herring, the recently hired executive director of Maine Huts and Trails ˆ and the organization's first full-time employee ˆ estimates the hut system will attract 50,000 overnight visitors a year and produce $30 million in economic activity for the communities along the trail corridor. Herring should know; before coming to Maine, he was manager for the Appalachian Mountain Club's backcountry hut system in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. That system is estimated to pump $60 million into local economies, Herring says. "I think a lot of people are looking for different ways to reinvent the economy in western Maine," he says. "And I think a model like this, of nature-based tourism and environmental and experiential education and recreation, can really serve as a sustainable model that helps support the local economy."
Settling disputes
The idea behind Maine Huts and Trails is to offer a backcountry experience, minus the usual backcountry discomforts. Instead of heading into the wilderness carrying heavy packs laden with supplies and sleeping on the ground, warm-weather hikers and wintertime skiers using the trail system would find solace at the end of each day in one of the 12 huts along the route. In fact, the huts will be log lodges, each with room to sleep around 40 people, that include bathroom facilities, a sauna and a staff to prepare and serve breakfast and dinner to the guests.
But offering a backcountry experience to families and other recreational hikers, skiers and paddlers is only part of the inspiration for the trail. Changing land ownership, Warren says, will continue to threaten Maine's wilderness, and the system therefore is just as concerned with conservation and preserving access to wild places as providing the recreational experience.
So far, Warren says he has secured the rights to or purchased outright about 63 miles of the trail, and has options to purchase almost the entire remaining 120 miles along the northern section. The foundation has also raised almost $3 million in commitments ˆ meaning there is still a long way to go before reaching the foundation's $11 million goal. To ease the process, the foundation is focusing on one section of the trail at a time.
The first phase consists of the recently approved Poplar Stream Falls hut, two additional huts to the north and 36 miles of trail connecting Carrabassett Valley with The Forks. The foundation expects to submit applications for the construction of the next two huts to the Land Use Regulation Commission this summer. If all goes well, Warren hopes to have that section of the trail ready for cross-country skiers by the winter of 2007.
From there, the plan calls for extending the system south to the Bethel area and northward, eventually linking The Forks with Rockwood near Moosehead Lake. But finalizing that route has proved controversial. The foundation last year settled a highly publicized dispute with the Friends of Bigelow, which opposed the foundation's plan to put several miles of groomed cross-country ski trails through the 35,000-acre Bigelow Preserve near Carrabassett Valley. After years of debate, the issue was settled when Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill in 2005 allowing a one-mile stretch of groomed cross-country ski trail to pass through the southeast corner of the preserve and Warren arranged for the rest of that section of trail ˆ including the Poplar Stream Falls hut ˆ to be relocated to private land owned by the Penobscot Indian Nation.
Since the Bigelow controversy was settled, Warren hasn't caught wind of any more organized opposition to the plan. Still, he expects concerns to arise among some individuals with not-in-my-backyard kinds of issues, or people who feel huts make the backcountry too accessible. To those people he can only explain the stated purpose of Maine Huts and Trails: to find a balance between ecotourism, conservation and preserving access to the land. "They may have had an opportunity to utilize these places in the past on an almost exclusive basis," Warren says. "But what has been in the past can't be promised in the future."
It's already taken several years just to reach this summer's milestone: The 5,300-square-foot Poplar Stream Falls hut, which received approval from the Carrabassett Valley Planning Board in May, will be the first physical manifestation of the $11 million hut-to-hut trail system Larry Warren, the foundation's president, proposed almost six years ago. (See "Mr. Warren's proposal," Dec. 9, 2002). But what seemed like an uncontroversial proposal at the time attracted unlikely critics. Members of the conservation community balked at Warren's plan to have a portion of the trail cross publicly preserved land.
However, with much of that opposition placated within the last year, the Western Mountains Foundation has moved ahead, hiring an executive director in January and preparing to begin building the system in earnest. Warren, former president of Sugarloaf/USA and a longtime Carrabassett Valley resident who was integral in the incorporation of the town in the early 1970s, says he is pleased with Carrabassett Valley's approval, but adds that it was not a total surprise. "They've been longtime supporters of the project," he says.
For Carrabassett Valley, which is the hub for the first phase of the project, the benefits of a nearby hut-and-trail system are clear. "Carrabassett Valley was incorporated and built on the premise of being a recreational community," says Bill Gilmore, Carrabassett Valley's assessor. "We've been behind this program since day one and we think it brings a lot of added value to this community."
Indeed, David Herring, the recently hired executive director of Maine Huts and Trails ˆ and the organization's first full-time employee ˆ estimates the hut system will attract 50,000 overnight visitors a year and produce $30 million in economic activity for the communities along the trail corridor. Herring should know; before coming to Maine, he was manager for the Appalachian Mountain Club's backcountry hut system in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. That system is estimated to pump $60 million into local economies, Herring says. "I think a lot of people are looking for different ways to reinvent the economy in western Maine," he says. "And I think a model like this, of nature-based tourism and environmental and experiential education and recreation, can really serve as a sustainable model that helps support the local economy."
Settling disputes
The idea behind Maine Huts and Trails is to offer a backcountry experience, minus the usual backcountry discomforts. Instead of heading into the wilderness carrying heavy packs laden with supplies and sleeping on the ground, warm-weather hikers and wintertime skiers using the trail system would find solace at the end of each day in one of the 12 huts along the route. In fact, the huts will be log lodges, each with room to sleep around 40 people, that include bathroom facilities, a sauna and a staff to prepare and serve breakfast and dinner to the guests.
But offering a backcountry experience to families and other recreational hikers, skiers and paddlers is only part of the inspiration for the trail. Changing land ownership, Warren says, will continue to threaten Maine's wilderness, and the system therefore is just as concerned with conservation and preserving access to wild places as providing the recreational experience.
So far, Warren says he has secured the rights to or purchased outright about 63 miles of the trail, and has options to purchase almost the entire remaining 120 miles along the northern section. The foundation has also raised almost $3 million in commitments ˆ meaning there is still a long way to go before reaching the foundation's $11 million goal. To ease the process, the foundation is focusing on one section of the trail at a time.
The first phase consists of the recently approved Poplar Stream Falls hut, two additional huts to the north and 36 miles of trail connecting Carrabassett Valley with The Forks. The foundation expects to submit applications for the construction of the next two huts to the Land Use Regulation Commission this summer. If all goes well, Warren hopes to have that section of the trail ready for cross-country skiers by the winter of 2007.
From there, the plan calls for extending the system south to the Bethel area and northward, eventually linking The Forks with Rockwood near Moosehead Lake. But finalizing that route has proved controversial. The foundation last year settled a highly publicized dispute with the Friends of Bigelow, which opposed the foundation's plan to put several miles of groomed cross-country ski trails through the 35,000-acre Bigelow Preserve near Carrabassett Valley. After years of debate, the issue was settled when Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill in 2005 allowing a one-mile stretch of groomed cross-country ski trail to pass through the southeast corner of the preserve and Warren arranged for the rest of that section of trail ˆ including the Poplar Stream Falls hut ˆ to be relocated to private land owned by the Penobscot Indian Nation.
Since the Bigelow controversy was settled, Warren hasn't caught wind of any more organized opposition to the plan. Still, he expects concerns to arise among some individuals with not-in-my-backyard kinds of issues, or people who feel huts make the backcountry too accessible. To those people he can only explain the stated purpose of Maine Huts and Trails: to find a balance between ecotourism, conservation and preserving access to the land. "They may have had an opportunity to utilize these places in the past on an almost exclusive basis," Warren says. "But what has been in the past can't be promised in the future."
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