RUMFORD — The area’s first-ever Sportsmen’s Show was given the go-ahead Wednesday night at the River Valley Growth Council meeting.

Growth Council member Jim Rinaldo is heading up the public event as one way to capitalize on the recreational opportunities available in the area. The show is also linked to a new subcommittee set up by the Growth Council that seeks to identify and improve a network of trails in the Rumford-Mexico area.

“We want to identify trails and get the word out to the public,” Rinaldo said after the monthly Growth Council meeting.

The show, tentatively planned for March 19 at Mountain Valley High School, will not only be one way to emphasize the recreational opportunities in the area, but also will serve as a fundraising effort for the council.

Rinaldo said vendors will display items for boating, fishing, hiking, camping and other outdoor activities that many people participate in.

The idea for the Recreation/Eco-Tourism Committee, and a second committee recently set up by the council, the Marketing/Promotion Committee, got its start following a so-called visioning session council members attended last month offered by Common Good Ventures.

Rinaldo said the committee, which recently held its first meeting, wants to find ways to link the trail systems in the Rumford-Mexico area.

In a related matter, member Bill Hine suggested the possibility of establishing a conservation committee in one or more of the towns in the River Valley area as a way to develop recreational resources and to protect open spaces.

Also on Wednesday, the board unanimously supported a line in next year’s Oxford County budget to help fund the Western Maine Economic Development Council.

“This is the first time there has been an effort to bring the county together. It’s a huge step in the right direction,” said member John Madigan who is Mexico’s town manager.

Linda Walbridge, the economic developer for the Western Maine Economic Development Council, has devoted equal time to the River Valley area of the county and the central portion.

“The commissioners should know we support what she is doing,” Madigan said.

Prior to the beginning of the meeting, Neil Kiely, New England development director for First Wind LLC of Boston, presented tentative plans for constructing 17 industrial wind turbines along the ridge that includes Black Mountain and North and South Twin Mountains in Rumford and Roxbury.

Kiely said his company opposes the proposed Rumford wind ordinance because it essentially bans such development.

In answer to critics who have said that wind development is heavily subsidized, he said other forms of energy receive more money than the wind industry.

Madigan asked about the net effect of $65 million in investment by the company. Kiely said he hopes his company’s proposal survives the Nov. 2 vote so dialogue can continue on how such development would affect Rumford and surrounding towns.

Several members of the town’s Wind Ordinance Committee, along with longtime wind power opponent, Dr. Albert Aniel, attended Kiely’s presentation.

Kiely said that the proposed ordinance singles out the wind industry.

“If sound is an issue, we expect to be treated the same as other industries,” he said.

The company plans to open an office in downtown Rumford within the next few weeks.

Council members took no stance on the matter. However, Chairman Rich Allen said most of the publicity has been negative. He said the board wanted to hear the other side.

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