NEWRY – Comments at Tuesday night’s public hearing on proposed makeover, name and focus changes to Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge mirrored those of Monday night’s hearing in Errol, N.H., albeit on a smaller scale.

Whereas Errol speakers from a crowd of about 85 were mainly concerned about the economic impacts of inevitable changes, the few who spoke from a crowd of about 40 in Newry focused more on multi-use opportunities they didn’t want to lose.

After five years of planning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a comprehensive conservation plan for the refuge. It includes three alternative approaches for managing wildlife, habitat and public use programs at the refuge for the next 15 years. Each alternative seeks to increase the refuge’s total acreage while improving wildlife-dependent recreation.

Alternative A would keep the status quo, while Alternative B, which the service recommends, would protect the biological integrity, diversity and environment of Umbagog Lake and its associated rivers and tributaries. Alternative C would let nature take its course after the service expanded the refuge by 76,304 acres, by creating contiguous blocks of water-connected conservation habitat greater than 25,000 acres.

Most people at Tuesday night’s meeting favored Alternative A, managing the refuge as it is now.

The refuge spans the border of northern New Hampshire and western Maine, protecting 20,919 acres of wildlife habitat in Coos County, N.H., and Oxford County. It was created in 1992 to provide long-term protection for unique wetlands, threatened and endangered species, and migratory birds of conservation concern.

But at Tuesday night’s meeting, most speakers objected to activities deemed inappropriate that are likely to be banned unless public comment alters future decisions.

Kevin Slater, owner of Mahoosuc Guide Services of Newry, said the bulk of trips that he guides are within the refuge. He objected to a conclusion in one of the draft comprehensive plan’s appendices, which implied that sled-dog mushing would be banned because it is considered an inappropriate use for the refuge.

“We’re competing against Canada, Alaska and the Yukon territories. We need bush trails and to be able to camp in the winter,” Slater said of his guided dog-sled adventure tours.

He said he had talked with refuge manager Paul Casey about it and suggested that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for the refuge, create a citizens advisory board before making final decisions.

Nancy Thew of East Andover objected to a possible ban of horseriding in the park.

“I have no safe place to ride,” Thew said. “I heard that gates are going up. I don’t want to ride on Route 26. This page really upset me,” she said of the same appendix listing.

Michael Parshall said he bought a 20-acre retirement home in Upton so he could hunt, fish, hike and ride snowmobiles in the area. He was concerned that those uses might be banned, although prior to opening the informational meeting to the public, Nancy McGarigall, the service’s planning team leader, said their intent is to allow all uses already allowed on refuge land.

The hearings will continue on Wednesday, Aug. 1, in Berlin, N.H., Monday, Aug. 6, in Concord, N.H., and Tuesday, Aug. 7, in Augusta. Additionally, because of the interest in Errol, McGarigall said they’ve tentatively scheduled another informational meeting on the proposals for Monday, Aug. 16, in the Errol town hall. The service is also taking written comment through Sept. 21.