Recently, the Bureau of Parks and Lands released the results of a 2003 University of Maine visitor survey of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. This study reported a high satisfaction rate by users, but does it tell the whole picture?
High marks for the Allagash should not come as a surprise. In the past, the waterway visitors have often praised the area. In general, people recall trips down the Allagash with pleasant memories of good canoeing, wildlife sightings and the cry of the loon.
Unfortunately, such studies do not tell the whole story, and they should not be the only benchmark to determine how well the state is managing the Allagash.
A 1988 University of Maine study, “Visitor Characteristics to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway,” reported that a high level of satisfaction is almost a constant in visitor surveys. Furthermore, the study hypothesized that visitors who become dissatisfied with changing conditions at a particular recreation area, quit visiting the area and are replaced by visitors who are satisfied with changing conditions – leaving the dissatisfied visitors unavailable to respond to surveys regarding their experience.
The only way to determine how well the state is caring for the Allagash is a complete, nonpartisan operational review of the waterway that includes a study of the one-mile corridor and management policies and objectives. This complete evaluation is the best way to determine if the Department of Conservation is managing the Allagash to “develop for maximum wilderness character” as the state law requires and with goals consistent with the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
The picture painted by the recent visitor survey is far rosier than what is on the ground.
Flights over the river expose that the state’s 500-foot ownership has truly become a beauty strip with heavy industrial harvesting up to the public ownership. Environmental violations are occurring right under the noises of the Bureau of Parks and Lands.
Additional indicators include:
n In 2003, the Land Use Regulation Commission fined Clayton Lake Woodlands $10,000 for silting Glazier Brook, a tributary to the Allagash River. To this day, damage is still occurring. The Land Use Regulation Commission has also sent an additional Notice of Violation to Clayton Lake Woodlands for environmental damages in 2001 and 2004 to Ross Stream and Grey Brook. Both are tributaries to the Allagash River and fall under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Parks and Lands.
n Following an extension of the 2003 River Drivers Agreement, BPL established nine separate Working Plan Action Groups to discuss fisheries, wilderness character, harvesting and administrative issues. Each committee were assigned specific areas to work on. During the last two years, the majority of the groups have not met.
n In 1999, the Bureau established a permanent Allagash Council that was to meet at least once a year to guide the Bureau in Allagash Wilderness Waterway Management issues. However, the last Council meeting was held in March of 2004.
n In 2002, in order to permit the illegally built Churchill Dam, the Department of Conservation engaged in a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Park Service to publicly review the AWW’s 1999 Management Plan. The Agreement called for that review to be completed within two years of the signing of the agreement. The Bureau has not completed this assignment and thus has jeopardized the permit for Churchill Dam.
Visitor satisfaction is, indeed, important, but does it tell the whole story?
Is the Allagash wilder today then in 1970 when it became a wild river?
Increased road access, a concrete dam and permanent bridge crossings, reconstruction of deteriorated sporting camps, stored canoes mounted with outboard motors and fish finders would lead a reasonable person to believe it isn’t.
Does the Department of Conservation have the political fortitude to manage the Allagash for its wild character? Historical documents remind us that the state gives proper attention to the Allagash only when forced.
In order to truly understand just how well the Allagash Wilderness Waterway is being managed, an in depth review is needed – one that is free of undue editing or political influence.
Tim Caverly is the Maine director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and was supervisor of Allagash Wilderness Waterway for the Department of Conservation from 1981 to 1999.
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