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By ALAN CROWELL
Staff Writer 12/05/2007

Staff Writer

On a week when heavy snow closed schools and sent government employees home early, access to watershed hearings on Plum Creek's plan for the Moosehead Lake region is only a few mouse clicks away.

A live audio Webcast of the two public hearings last weekend in Greenville and Augusta marked a first in the Land Use Regulation Commission's history, according to Catherine Carroll, director of LURC.

She expects them to become a regular feature.

"We hope that we can Webcast as many of our future public hearings and meetings as possible," said Carroll, although she said that may not be possible in all locations for technical reasons.

She said the Webcasts are particularly important for the Plum Creek Timber Co. concept plan because of enormous public interest.

Hundreds of people attended hearings in Augusta and Greenville last weekend.

Many more are expected to attend hearings in Portland and Greenville on Dec. 15 and 16, respectively.

Plans call for rezoning more than 400,000 acres around Moosehead Lake in the unorganized territories, creating roughly 1,000 house lots and two resorts with a combination of 1,050 accommodation units.

About 20,000 acres eventually would be developed under the plan, while about 430,000 acres would be conserved through easements or sales to conservation groups.

Proponents have said the concept plan would provide for orderly growth and ensure conservation and public access to hundreds of thousands of acres.

Opponents say the plan would inject sprawl into a revered landscape that has been a magnet for sportsmen and ecotourists for generations, and create a negative precedent for the development of Maine's unorganized territories, which make up about half of Maine.

But while people on both sides had a chance to weigh in during public hearings last weekend, sessions this week and next provide little opportunity for public input.

Ten days of party sessions -- when intervenors and Plum Creek Timber Co. will testify, with much of that testimony technical -- will be Webcast this month.

Because of the Webcast, those interested need not drive to Augusta to follow along. "They can keep track of (testimony) at their own convenience at home or at work," said Carroll.

People who don't have a high-speed Internet connection, however, may be unable to view the streaming video.

Carroll said turnout at the public hearings has been the heaviest she has seen in her 20-year tenure at the commission. The number of public hearings is also the most for a single project.

The party sessions themselves involve between 25 and 30 intervenors -- entities who have legal standing in the process -- and about 170 witnesses, each of whom is subject to cross-examination.

Because of the sheer number of intervenors, witnesses and members of the public, Carroll said her agency has had to inject a fair amount of organization and structure into the hearings.

Staffers also have volunteered their time over the weekends to help run the public hearings, doing everything from keeping time for speakers to putting duct tape over electrical cords to prevent people from tripping.

"These are people who don't work on the Plum Creek plan," said Carroll.

Alan Crowell -- 474-9534, Ext. 342

acrowell@centralmaine.com

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