Conservation philanthropist Roxanne Quimby is buying 8,900 acres east of Baxter State Park as part of a complex deal that will open up additional acreage in the Millinocket area to hunters, snowmobilers and other sportsmen, state officials said Friday.
In what is being described as an unprecedented win-win-win situation, Quimby will acquire a remote yet valuable parcel known as the "Valley Lands" just east of Katahdin Lake that had been at the top of the state’s wish list for several years.
As part of the deal, Quimby has given the state a two-year option to purchase 5,000 acres closer to Millinocket as well as a working forest easement — with guaranteed public access — to an additional 6,600 acres nearby.
The acquisition and easements, if completed, will ensure fiber supplies to local mills while protecting public access to popular recreational lands, including two snowmobile trails.
The land deals are a product of months of closed-door negotiations between Quimby and Millinocket-area leaders, sportsmen’s groups, state officials and the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.
More importantly, it signals a warming of relations between Quimby and groups that have denounced her record of buying large chunks of the North Woods and then posting the land to prevent hunting, mechanized recreation and timber harvesting.
"What is wonderful here is the town of Millinocket, the state … Roxanne and local groups have all sat down and figured out what makes sense" for all parties, Karin Tilberg, a senior policy adviser to Gov. John Baldacci, said Friday. "This is a huge tribute to people working together and valuing everyone’s needs."
Quimby apparently has agreed to pay the Gardner Land Co. $6.1 million for the Wassataquoik Valley lands. Maine, meanwhile, now has two years to raise the $3 million needed to buy the Quimby land and easements near Millinocket.
When completed, the deal will:
"This collaboration demonstrates once again that when Maine people are confronted with a challenge, they don’t give up until they find a solution," Baldacci said in a statement. "The traditions and economic drivers of hunting and motorized recreation are part of the fabric of who we are. Likewise, having climbed Katahdin and paddled the Allagash with my son this past year, I am a firm believer in the importance of the wilderness experiences that our state has to offer."
Seven months ago, things did not look so rosy for the Baldacci administration or for Millinocket-area sportsmen.
The Baldacci administration had secured an option to buy the 8,000-acre Wassataquoik Valley lands from Gardner Land Co. as part of the deal that added Katahdin Lake to Baxter State Park. The option was key to winning the support of legislators concerned about lost hunting and snowmobiling access around Katahdin Lake.
But the deal began to unravel in the spring when the Gardner family rejected the state’s offer for the land. When the option timeline expired, the land went back on the market.
Quimby, whose support for limited-use wilderness and past espousal of a North Woods national park is highly unpopular in some circles, seemed a likely potential buyer given her other holdings in the area. Quimby and the Gardners also have negotiated past land deals.
But over the months, the various parties worked out a compromise plan that balances Quimby’s desire for wilderness protection with the economic and social needs of local residents, those involved said.
In a statement released Friday night, Quimby praised Millinocket Town Manager Gene Conlogue and representatives of sporting groups for their willingness to compromise.
"What kept us all at the table was a shared commitment to this landscape," Quimby said. "In the past, while we argued about whose vision was best, the land was changing hands and opportunities were passing us by. The reality of an unpredictable future brought us together to try and bring some predictability to a region in transition."
Tom Gardner said Friday his family agreed to the sale with Quimby because the price was right, and the money will help keep him and his companies’ 150 forest products employees in business.
Baldacci and local officials are expected to formally unveil the agreement during a ceremony in Augusta this Tuesday.
BDN writer Nick Sambides Jr.
contributed to this report. Kevin Miller may be reached at kmiller@bangordailynews.net or 990-8250.