WATERVILLE -- After three years of listening, the directors of the Land Use Regulation Commission will publicly deliberate Tuesday and Wednesday on what could be a watershed development plan for the Moosehead Lake region.

A Plum Creek spokesman says that Land Use Regulation Commission recommendations for his company's Moosehead Lake plans would represent a "substantial compromise."

Luke Muzzy late last week said timber company Plum Creek has made a "tremendous amount" of changes to its plan over the years.

He said Plum Creek officials were still working to understand how recommendations released last Tuesday by the commission staff would affect the proposal.

Plum Creek Timber Co. has proposed putting 975 house lots and two resorts in the heart of the Moosehead area in a plan that would trade the rezoning of about 20,000 acres for the permanent conservation of more than 400,000 acres.

Environmental groups say the plan, even with the recommendations released Tuesday night, still represents too many homes, roads and related development in a special area, potentially destroying the character of the east side of Moosehead Lake and degrading the experience of visitors to the Lily Bay State Park.

Proponents say the plan would bring a much-needed economic boost to a region that has lost a significant amount of its population in recent years and preserve public access and habitat in an area that is already under significant development pressure.

The seven-member independent commission, which serves as the planning board for the vast unorganized territories, is scheduled to deliberate Tuesday and Wednesday on the plan.

The recommendations will serve as the focus of those deliberations.

Catherine Carroll, director of the commission, said the staff is not recommending approval or denial, only changes to Plum Creek's plan.

Those changes include the removal of development from ecologically sensitive areas and improved guarantees that conserved land is managed in a way that protects sensitive habitat.

They are designed to prevent sprawl while protecting sensitive areas.

Tuesday and Wednesday, in sessions scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the St. Paul Center in Augusta, the commission will deliberate on the plan but will not make a final decision.

Carroll said that at the end of the deliberative sessions, the seven-member board of the commission will give the staff guidance on what to write for a decision document.

A final decision is expected this summer.

Judy Berk, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said that the deliberative session will be the first time the commissioners will share their opinion on the Moosehead proposal in a review process that has lasted more than three years.

She said that if the plan goes through at all, it should dramatically downscale development in general and on Lily Bay in particular.

Plum Creek has proposed 404 house lots on land near Lily Bay State Park.

Berk said that development would not only endanger the federally protected Canada Lynx, it would degrade the quiet North Woods experience that campers at the state park now enjoy, bringing lights, lawnmowers, motor boats and boom boxes. The deliberations will be closely watched by many North Woods landowners, said Berk.

The precedent set by the commission's decision could have broad ramifications in an area that makes up about half of Maine and in which the mix of ownership has shifted, from paper and forest companies to investment companies in recent decades.

Muzzy said that since Plum Creek submitted the first version of the plan in April of 2005, his company has come a long way to address people's concerns.

"It is obvious that there are some groups that, no matter what we do, we are not going to please them," said Muzzy.

Since the commission staff released about 130 pages of proposed changes to the last version of the plan on Tuesday, Muzzy said he and other Plum Creek officials have been trying to understand all the implications.

"In a lot of cases, one recommended change affects many parts of the plan," said Muzzy.

He said it is also important to hear how the commission sees the recommendations.

"We will learn more next week when the commissioners deliberate," said Muzzy.

Alan Crowell -- 861-9244

acrowell@centralmaine.com