AUGUSTA (AP) – Plum Creek Timber Co. fails to meet the regulatory and legal criteria to move forward with it proposed large-scale development in the Moosehead Lake region, critics of the plan said Thursday.

Representatives from the Forest Ecology Network and RESTORE: The North Woods said at a press conference that Plum Creek falls short in its attempt to have 20,000 acres rezoned to pave the way for 975 house lots and two resorts.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Audubon have also taken issue with parts of a new 127-page report released this week by the Land Use Regulation Commission, the agency that is reviewing the plan.

The LURC document recommends that some development areas be scaled back and conservation lands have more protections, but those changes aren’t enough, said Jonathan Carter, director of the Forest Ecology Network.

“Now that the legal briefs are in and the record is closed, it is time for the final exam. If LURC properly applies the tests in the law and the regulations, there is no way the Plum Creek proposal can be approved,” Carter said.

Conservation groups have opposed the development since Plum Creek unveiled plans more than three years ago for what would be the largest subdivision ever in Maine. Opponents say the development is out of scale and out of character for a region made famous by Henry David Thoreau.

The proposal has gone through intense scrutiny with hearings, expert testimony and public comments across the state. The latest LURC document marks the start of the formal review process that could lead to a final decision later this year.

At their press conference, Carter and Jym St. Pierre, director of RESTORE: The North Woods, released a mock report card giving failing grades to the proposal.

St. Pierre also took LURC to task, saying the agency should give the proposal a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down – not give suggestions on how Plum Creek can amend the plan so it will be approved. St. Pierre served on LURC’s staff for 11 years until 1989.

Besides the house lots, Plum Creek also wants to build 1,050 other housing units, such as condominiums, hotel rooms and cabins in resort areas. Opponents say those numbers are too high and that Lily Bay, a Moosehead Lake inlet where Plum Creek wants to develop a resort, deserves more protection from development.

Plum Creek officials said they are analyzing the LURC document to determine how the LURC recommendations affect the plan. The report will be the subject of discussions next week when the commission begins debating the merits of the proposal.

“There are a lot of compromises here we’ll have to make,” said project manager Luke Muzzy. “In our opinion, we’ve been making a lot of compromises for almost four years now.”

AP-ES-05-22-08 1646EDT