BANGOR (AP) – Two environmental groups said Monday they are taking a formal stand against Plum Creek Timber Co.’s latest development proposal for the Moosehead Lake region.

Maine Audubon and the Natural Resources Council of Maine held news conferences in Portland and Bangor to announce they are filing papers to intervene in opposition to the plan in the state’s review of the Seattle-based company’s latest rezoning and development proposal.

In April, Plum Creek submitted its second revision since it first proposed the development more than two years ago. The plan, under review by Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission, still calls for 975 house lots as well as two resorts.

Interveners say the number of housing units in the development totals more than 2,300 and the two resorts would total more than 5,200 acres.

But the latest revision reduces shorefront development on Moosehead Lake and nearby ponds and lakes by 40 percent, according to Luke Muzzy of Plum Creek. It also proposes increasing the amount of land it puts into conservation by 20,000 acres to 90,000, and selling conservation easements and land totaling 341,000 acres to The Nature Conservancy.

Maine Audubon and the Natural Resources Council said they are intervening because they believe Plum Creek’s plan still includes too much development, and some development in the wrong places.

“Despite changes, Plum Creek’s current plan still threatens Maine wildlife and habitat to a degree that’s unacceptable,” said Kevin Carley, executive director of Maine Audubon.

Brownie Carson, executive director of the Natural Resources Council, said the state “has one chance to get it right for Moosehead.”

“We will not sit idly by and allow the company to destroy what people love about Maine’s beautiful Moosehead region,” Carson said.

LURC said its hearings could begin this fall.

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