ORONO (AP) – Hoping to make its Moosehead Lake-area development plan more acceptable to critics, Plum Creek Timber Co. is revising its plan, according to two company officials.

Although they did not provide specifics or suggest drastic rewrites, the officials said they are working to address some of the concerns expressed by residents during a series of public forums during the summer.

Some suggested that the development be built closer to existing towns rather than in remote areas, which critics said should be reserved for recreation and ecotourism.

Luke Muzzy, a Greenville native who is heading up the project for Seattle-based Plum Creek, said the location of development is a primary focus of modifications.

“That’s something we’re looking at real hard, is how to get lots closer to Greenville and out of the more remote locations,” he said.

“There’ll be quite a few changes,” said Muzzy. “We hope to have all our changes made by the end of the year.”

Muzzy and Jim Lehner, the company’s regional general manager, spoke about the plan Friday to about 40 University of Maine students and faculty as part of a series of discussions hosted by UMaine’s Sen. George Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research.

Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission is reviewing plans that call for rezoning about 10,000 acres of timberlands around Moosehead to make way for two resorts, 975 house lots, campgrounds and other uses.

Nearly 400,000 acres would remain timberland for at least 30 years, and more than 50 ponds would remain undeveloped.

State officials have asked Plum Creek to modify its plan before moving forward.

“I think there are things we can do to make this a better plan,” Lehner said Friday. He and Muzzy said the company had always been open to changing and improving the plan.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-10-01-05 1106EDT

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