SEARSPORT (AP) – A sharply divided panel working toward a compromise on the future of Sears Island meets Tuesday for what could be the final time before forwarding any recommendations to Gov. John Baldacci.

Opposing factions on the 42-member committee have agreed on a tenuous deal that would allow construction of a container port on the Penobscot Bay island’s northwest corner while preserving much of the remainder of island from development.

The committee was convened by the state Department of Conservation, which is looking for a final plan for the 941-acre island owned by the state.

Over the last 40 years, the island has been proposed as the site for a nuclear power plant, an oil refinery, an aluminum smelter and finally a container port, none of which has come to fruition.

The container port proposal led to construction of a causeway and a road leading to a rock jetty, but otherwise the island remains little changed from two centuries ago.

Baldacci has pledged to be guided by the committee’s recommendations, which would also be forwarded to the Legislature’s Transportation Committee and the town of Searsport.

Environmentalists on the planning committee have offered to support fully developing the port facility on nearby Mack Point in exchange for putting the island under the protection of a land trust or similar group. The port group wants to retain the right to build a container port on the island while offering to keep the unused acreage available for recreation.

The draft consensus was put together by Jonathan Reitman, a facilitator who is working with Deputy Conservation Commissioner Karin Tilberg to try to bring the two sides together.

“There have been quiet discussions,” Tilberg said. “I’m really encouraged that people are communicating.”

Key provisions of the draft call for preservationists to accept the possibility of a container port on the northwest corner of the island and pledge “not to intervene in a frivolous fashion” if a proposal is made, Tilberg said.

In addition, both sides agree that a liquefied natural gas terminal should not be built on the island and that marine transportation needs be explored first at Mack Point.

Finally, a significant portion of the island would be under the control of a third party to protect it from development beyond a small gravel parking lot, some trails and a paddle boat launch area.