SEARSPORT (AP) – A group eager to keep a liquefied natural gas terminal off state-owned Sears Island says it has begun an effort to establish a seabird education center on the 941-acre island in Penobscot Bay.

The effort by the advocacy group Friends of Sears Island comes as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge along the Maine coast, considers a 15-year conservation plan that calls for establishing a center somewhere in the region.

The refuge is made up of 46 islands and three mainland areas totaling 7,600 acres, mostly devoted to providing habitat for migrating and indigenous seabirds.

Friends of Sears Island, which formed when the island was being considered for an LNG terminal last fall, contends the island and the education center would be a good match.

As much as the group supports the idea, however, the island is still owned by the state, said Lee Umphrey, spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci’s office.

Umphrey said the state will not close the door on industrial development for the island. But it is working on plans for the island to allow some industrial use along with recreational or conservation use, he said.

“The governor wants to create jobs in Maine and doesn’t want to close the door on development,” Umphrey said.

Charles Blair, manager of the Petit Manan refuge, said the comprehensive conservation plan is in draft form and has yet to be federally approved.

The refuge wants to its center to be in the midcoast between Brunswick and Bucksport. “Many people don’t get a chance to visit the islands,” Blair said. “They’re a resource for everyone in the country.”

Nancy Galland of Stockton Springs, a member of the Friends group, said a seabird education center would be a perfect match for the island. She said the group wants the remainder of the island preserved.

The federal government may be able to pay the town in place of lost property taxes if the center is built on the island, she said.

Blair said the refuge will not investigate a site unless the state invites it to.