$5M outdoor recreation facility proposed for Katahdin region
Photo / James McCarthy
A view of the East Branch of the Penobscot River near the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
The Butler Conservation Fund, established in 1988 by millionaire New York philanthropist Gilbert Butler, is proposing to build a $5 million outdoor education facility and riverside trail network near Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
The Bangor Daily News reported the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public informational meeting about the proposal on Thursday, 6 p.m., at the Katahdin Higher Education Center in East Millinocket. Subsequent steps in the permitting process include submitting a building plan and permit application to DEP, the newspaper reported.
According to the fund’s website, the proposed project aims to create a continuous protected corridor along the riverbank of the East Branch of the Penobscot and its wildest tributary, the Seboeis. If approved, the trail would follow a stretch of the river off Route 11.
The fund also stated: “In addition to the spectacular paddling opportunities, this will open the door to an extensive riverside trail system. In addition to some land acquisition, BCF funding will be used to leverage the investment of other parties, both public and private, to create a mosaic of protected lands along the river. The project is also designed to coexist with active forest management in less ecologically sensitive areas. With the decline of Maine’s timber industry, the economic benefit that local communities will derive from these recreational and ecotourist activities is one of BCF’s key goals. This area will be the focus of the Maine Outdoor Education Program.”
The newspaper reported that if DEP approves the project, it would mark the first large-scale investment near the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument since it was created by President Obama last August.
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