The May 15 Sun Journal presented the perspective of Tim Caverly regarding the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands’ management of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Mr. Caverly, a former manager of the waterway, called for an independent review of current waterway management to ensure that the waterway is managed to preserve and enhance its wild character.

Ironically, he was writing in response to a recently released independent survey revealing overwhelmingly (97 percent) high user satisfaction with the Allagash Wilderness Waterway experience.

The argument for a management review is advanced on the strength of two assertions, both of which are factually incorrect.

The first allegation is that the bureau has permitted environmental violations by industrial timber harvesters to occur in the Allagash region, “right under the noses” of the Bureau of Parks and Lands. But none of the cited violations occurred under the stewardship of the bureau or within the jurisdictional authority of the waterway. Although the violations are indeed regrettable, they say nothing about waterway management. Enforcement actions brought by the Land Use Regulation Commission demonstrate, if anything, responsive and effective environmental enforcement by that bureau.

The second allegation is more nebulous – that the Bureau of Parks and Lands has not held enough meetings to discuss Allagash issues, or has failed to make changes to its management plan in accordance with an agreement with the National Park Service. This allegation also is simply incorrect.

Over the past two years, the Allagash Advisory Council and its subgroups have met six times. Other groups with a more narrow focus have conducted more than a half-dozen other meetings. Management plan reviews required under the Memorandum of Agreement with the National Park Service have been undertaken and completed, leading to recommendations for revisions to the management plan that had already been through three revisions prior to adoption. Contrary to Mr. Caverly’s allegations, the bureau is fully in compliance with its obligations under the Memorandum of Agreement with the National Park Service.

But the Allagash Wilderness Waterway really isn’t about meetings in Augusta and planning papers layered in legalese. It’s about a classic Maine outdoor experience on a justly famous wilderness waterway. The best evidence of management success is the user experience. In this case, the overwhelmingly high user satisfaction expressed by visitors to the Allagash, as measured by University of Maine researchers, tells the story. As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

The University of Maine study also shows that outdoor experiences like those offered on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway are very important to visitors. Once again, fully 97 percent of the visitors to the waterway find the experience “extremely important” or “very important.” The study points out that the waterway serves very diverse groups with very different expectations.

For instance, for a significantly large group, the number of other visitors seen on the river, and opportunities for hunting, fishing, and gathering, are “not at all important.” For an almost equally large group, however, the number of other users seen on the trip and the availability of hunting, fishing, and gathering are “very important.” Despite this diversity of interests and expectations, user satisfaction is high across the board.

By any fair and objective standard of evaluation, the waterway today is wilder than at any time in its history as a wild and scenic river.

For example, more than 40 buildings have been removed from the waterway since its designation as a wilderness waterway – seven in the last year alone. Vehicle access points have been reduced from more than 28 to fewer than 10. Some of the other features cited by Mr. Caverly as evidence of alleged loss of wilderness, such as the presence of a limited number of bridges, and outboard motors mounted on canoes in some areas of the waterway, have been present on the waterway since it was designated as a wild and scenic river. The limited presence of such features on the river is incorporated into the bureau’s governing statutes for management of the waterway.

New management initiatives on the waterway have focused on improving the visitor experience and enhancing the wild character of the river, while respecting the cultural and historic values, and the traditional uses, of Maine sportsmen.

The Department of Conservation invites those who care about management of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway to visit the Allagash and see for themselves. We know you’ll have a great trip!

Dave Soucy, a Fort Kent native, has been director of the Bureau of Parks and Lands since 2003. He is an avid outdoorsman and has spent many days and nights on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

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