LEWISTON – Criminal charges are unlikely in the case of two state lawmakers who used a bulldozer and chain saw to reopen a road within the restricted zone of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.
David Soucy, the director of the Bureau of Parks and Lands which oversees the wilderness area, said that conflicting parts of the law regarding the Allagash would make prosecution difficult, if not impossible.
According to Soucy, the department is awaiting a final recommendation from the area’s manager, Marilyn Tourtellotte, but he doesn’t expect either a criminal or a civil complaint.
On July 4, state Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, state Rep. Troy Jackson, D-Fort Kent, and two other men used the equipment to fill in two ditches that had been used to block access to the Old Michaud Farm Road and to clear small trees that hindered passage.
The road, which runs parallel to the Allagash River, comes within 50 feet of the waterway and traffic can be seen and heard from the water. The road had been closed since 2003 after an agreement was reached with the landowner, J.D. Irving Land Co.
“The facts are: The road is privately owned, (Martin and Jackson) had the permission of the landowner to reopen the road, and their actions were consistent with what is considered road maintenance,” Soucy said. “Given those factors, criminal prosecution seems unlikely.”
In 2003, Irving Woodland agreed to close the road for two years pending further discussion of questions of access to two campsites and an old grave site.
That discussion didn’t take place, Soucy said. Martin and Jackson opened the road without first contacting the state or the manager of the waterway.
The state acquired about a 500-foot strip of land around the river for a buffer, Soucy said. While the law prohibits bulldozers and chain saws within that restricted zone, it also allows for the upkeep of roads that were already in existence when the wilderness waterway was created in 1966.
Other questions, problems
While the question of prosecution is all but answered, a number of others remain, including what to do about the road and how to maintain access to places along the river where vehicles are allowed, Soucy said.
For the 40 years that the Allagash Wilderness Waterway has existed, moving roads away from the river has been a goal, Soucy said. The state has the ability to force landowners to close roads, but it also has the obligation of finding a suitable alternative and paying for it.
“One of the policy options we have is to direct that the road be closed,” Soucy said. “But the road goes to lawful access points on the Allagash. The existing road is the only way to get there.”
“The problem is, how do we make sure that people can have access to lawful vehicle access points?” Soucy said.
Martin, who served as speaker of the House for 20 years and is an outspoken advocate for increased access to the Allagash, is a member of a working group established by Gov. John Baldacci to consider the management structure of the waterway. During the group’s second meeting July 17, Martin read a statement apologizing for his actions.
“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 is quoted as saying in a July 18 Bangor Daily News article about the meeting.
‘More than an indiscretion’
For Brownie Carson, the executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and a member of the working group, the apology fell short.
“I thought his actions showed a truly remarkable disrespect for the waterway and how we should treat public lands in the state,” Carson said.
“I went into that meeting, frankly, expecting – no, hoping – that Sen. Martin would step down from the working group. That would have been appropriate,” Carson said. “John Martin knows better. All of us have committed youthful indiscretions. But he’s not youthful, and this is more than an indiscretion.”
Carson also offered a warning for the state and its apparent plans not to pursue legal action against Martin and Jackson.
“I think state officials should think very, very carefully before making a final decision because of the distinct risk that if they do nothing, it will create an impression that two state lawmakers received special treatment,” Carson said.
Soucy said that the state is mindful of that perception.
“Obviously, taking a bulldozer to a very, very sensitive area in the midst of a heated political discussion about it is not the best way to deal with these issues. And Sen. Martin acknowledged that,” Soucy said.
“If we’re going to bring a case, it has to be substantial. It can’t be a little niggling thing,” Soucy said. “Bringing a bad case would be the worst thing that we could do.”
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