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President's Column: An Eco-Resort at Schoodic
Anyone who has traveled Downeast
to the Schoodic Peninsula knows
what a rare pleasure is in store at the
end of land. After passing through the communities
of Gouldsboro or Winter Harbor, the
road weaves through a forested landscape
until vistas begin to open onto the ocean. The
Schoodic Peninsula offers a rocky coastline,
winding trails, summit views from Schoodic
Head, and, most especially, the opportunity
for quiet discovery and experience.
Schoodic is a beautiful area for humans
to live and visit. Winter Harbor and
Gouldsboro, with their several villages,
share the peninsula. Schoodic is also home
to many species worthy of conserving. The
land provides valuable breeding, nesting,
and stopover habitats for migratory songbirds.
Hundreds of plant species thrive
on the peninsula. The jack pine stands
and maritime shrubland communities are
listed as "Rare and Exemplary Natural
Communities" by the Maine Natural Areas
Program. Acadia National Park has been
protecting and sharing the Schoodic experience
on 2,300 acres for 80 years.
Recently, the Schoodic communities,
Acadia National Park, and other stakeholders
were alerted to the possibility of large-scale
resort development on the approximately
3,200 acres directly abutting Acadia.
Labeled an "eco-resort," the development is
proposed on land that separates the park
from the rest of the mainland and that is an
integral part of the complex wildlife habitats
of Acadia and the Schoodic region.
A large-scale development like the one
being explored would have significant
regional impacts and deserves a regional
discussion. Friends of Acadia is engaging
residents and stakeholders in asking the
important questions about their preferred
vision for Schoodic. We want to hear from
them their most valued experiences in the
Schoodic area. Does a large-scale resort
development fit the values of the communities?
What sort of development, if any, is
appropriate on the boundaries of a national
resource like Acadia National Park?
A formal development proposal has not
been submitted for consideration to a planning
board to date, but plans are being
discussed that include a golf course, two
hotels, a beaver ecology center, a captive
bird breeding center, affordable housing,
and a green corridor that proposes trails
and electric trams for transportation, among
other features. The discussion includes
plans for as many as 1,000 housing units,
and possibly more. This is not an unlikely
scenario, as in the past the landowner has
stated the right to build 3,000 units. No
matter how ecologically-sound the construction,
a development of this scale would
forever change the character of the communities,
the region, and the quiet experience
of visiting Acadia at Schoodic.
A habitat corridor that is interspersed
with trails and electric trams transporting
visitors from lodging to golf course to ecological
center presents conflicts that make
its ecological success unlikely. A habitat
corridor should provide an unbroken
buffer and land for wildlife and plant
species to move and thrive in diverse
landscapes. The presence of trails and
tramways interrupts the protected corridor,
reducing if not eliminating its effectiveness.
The plans explore the possibility
of opening these areas to the public, as
well. Add parking lots and increased use to
the "habitat corridor."
A beaver ecology center, a captive bird
breeding center and a nursery for jack
pine stands may be fine objectives in lanscapes that have already lost their natural
habitats. But it is a tragic irony to build
an "eco-resort" touting sound ecological
practices while destroying the rare natural
communities.
Friends of Acadia is working with partners
to advocate for a better "eco-future" for
Schoodic. Innovative alternatives can be
created that would treat the landowners
fairly, protect the characteristics most valued
by the communities, protect the traditional
public enjoyment of the land, and
preserve the integrity of the ecosystems that
sustain valuable wildlife habitats and
migration. Twelve years ago, when the land
was threatened with a proposed clear cut,
Friends of Acadia and partners protected
the integrity of the Schoodic landscape and
negotiated a sensitive timber cut with the
landowner. Today, Friends welcomes a
broad and dynamic regional discussion
about a truly ecologically-sound and
visionary future for the Schoodic Peninsula.
- Marla S. O'Byrne, President
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