AUGUSTA (AP) – Sen. John Martin, the veteran Democrat from Eagle Lake, has offered an apology for rekindling controversy over access to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway by reopening a road previously closed by the state.

But at a meeting of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Working Group on Monday, another lawmaker, Democratic Rep. Troy Jackson of Allagash, said he took “great pleasure” in giving St. John Valley residents access to a road they formerly used to go fishing and hunting.

“I felt it was more important to do it than to continue to study and talk about it,” said Jackson, who supplied the heavy equipment to reopen Old Michaud Farm Road earlier this month. “This is something local people have had for years and should continue to have.”

The task force was created by Gov. John Baldacci this spring to resolve long-standing tensions over the 92-mile-long waterway, which is designated as a national “wild and scenic river.”

Panelists Brownie Carson of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Richard Barringer, a former state conservation commissioner, said they welcomed Martin’s apology but fear the road incident may compromise the group’s work.

Task force chairman Don Nicoll said the Department of Conservation, landowners and local residents will have to resolve the questions over vehicle access to the river and day use of the waterway. The working group’s purpose is to examine alternate management options for the waterway, he said.

“I think, despite the differences around the Michaud Farm question, that’s going to happen,” Nicoll said.

Martin’s participation on the task force has come under scrutiny after it was reported that he and Jackson, along with others, filled in ditches and removed downed trees along the closed road.

Martin received permission from the road’s owner, timber company Irving Woodlands, but had not consulted or notified the state about the plans to re-clear a path through a restricted zone in the protected waterway, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Martin said Monday he did not intend his actions as a statement of defiance against the state Department of Conservation, which oversees the waterway.

“But on reflection, I realize the way we chose to solve the serious problems that bothered my constituents and our constituents led to the kind of confrontation that I and other members of the working group have been complaining about,” Martin said.

Jackson, who does not serve on the group, told the panel that he knew reopening the road would cause controversy.

“I’m elected to represent that area, and I did what was in my heart and what the people in my district wanted,” Jackson said.

Rules regulating access to the protected waterway have been at issue for years, often pitting local outdoor enthusiasts against environmentalists.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com