AMC in the 100-mile-wilderness

[nitewalker]

Originally Posted by Lone Wolf

Highland Center I is totally appropriate for it's location

i totally agree with this statement. it is in a perfect location....

[nitewalker]

Originally Posted by Symbol

Not to keep stirring, either... but if it is appropriate then would it be just as appropriate if the place had a Four Seasons sign out front? Would it be okay to put one of those in Franconia Notch or Pinkham Notch?

four seasons has nothing to do with nature or hiking. at least highland center can be educational...

[weary]

Originally Posted by peakbagger

Maine huts and trails set up would be hard to beat. I stayed there this fall and a lot of planning went into making the facilities top notch. They have radiant heat in the main building plus the bunkhouses so no running a stove.

Sadly, unlike AMC, "huts and trails" are anti rustic.

Jack, after experiencing both for a few years, tell us which you prefer.

Weary

[weary]

Originally Posted by Jack Tarlin

....please.......spare me about how "rustic" the Highland Center is.
.....

Jack, read my post again. I was talking about the style of architecture. I'm not concerned with prices. I'll never go there except in an emergency, or unless AMC offers a cheaper package for a chapter event. I will from time to time stay at the hostel -- a real bargain. But sadly in an un-rustic 1950s structure.

Weary

[Jack Tarlin]

Weary:

Since you asked, I avoid "bunkhouse" accomodations at all costs and rarely stay in shelters, either.

Even when I stay at a hostel, I usually tent, stay in a treehouse out back, etc.

Likewise, unless I'm with very good friends, I prefer to get my own room when in town, like at a motel.

It's quieter, I can take longer showers, I have some time to myself, and nobody complains about what I'm watching on TV.

I think this comes with getting older.

[jeremiah j]

Why do we need to modernize the Maine woods. Is the only reason the AMC is a good idea in the maine woods because its a better choice than "other development". Something about that just doesn't seem right. Also the improvements the AMC hopes to bring (forest products jobs, new multi day recreational experience, and to attract new nature based tourism to the region) sounds like bs to me. Is this just an excuse to make money and encourage development. Do we really need to bring more people into the Maine woods. If we do give me 1 good reason why. Maybe we do need an airstrip and all the commerce and jobs this would provide since some want to " modernize" the woods. Let's not fool around with conservation sounding stuff. Why don't we build a couple of large hotels in the 100 mile wilderness and really get some money flowing ( with new roads, trails, gas stations, and convenience stores). Lets not bs about making money and hide it with conservation.

[jeremiah j]

And 2 other things. The AMC lakes of the clouds hut sleeps 90 people per nite and I stayed at Crawford Notch 15 yrs ago for 8-10 dollars per nite. Are we making progress?

[TJ aka Teej]

Originally Posted by jeremiah j

Lets not bs about making money and hide it with conservation.

The AMC's development of revenue sources for their 'outdoor recreation' business has to be disguised as conservation. If they were straight forward and truthful regarding what they were about who would support them?

[rickb]

Originally Posted by TJ aka Teej

The AMC development of revenue sources for their 'outdoor recreation' business has to disguised as conservation. If they were straight forward and truthful regarding what they were about who would support them?

The AMC's recent acquisition of an additional 29,500 acres around Roach Pond Lakes, and earlier purchase of the 37,000 acre Katahdin Iron Works parcel will be appreciated by hikers for generations to come. The long term benefit to AT hikers is incalculable.

All told it took about $45 million to make this happen.

Donations.

From other people.

[TJ aka Teej]

Originally Posted by rickb

The AMC's recent acquisition of an additional 29,500 acres around Roach Pond Lakes, and earlier purchase of the 37,000 acre Katahdin Iron Works parcel will be appreciated by hikers for generations to come.

The plan still calls for continued logging and increasing commercial development, doesn't it? It'd be nice if preservation, rather than so-called 'conservation', was the AMC's goal.

[woodsy]

AMC has done much here in Maine and other states to keep lands open to the public and maintain trails.
They got involved in a land owner/hiker dispute a couple years ago nearby where a popular long time blue trail was closed. They negotiated its reopening , some trail relocation and maintenance. Thanks AMC


Heres some history of the AMC in Maine

[weary]

Originally Posted by jeremiah j

Why do we need to modernize the Maine woods. Is the only reason the AMC is a good idea in the maine woods because its a better choice than "other development". Something about that just doesn't seem right. Also the improvements the AMC hopes to bring (forest products jobs, new multi day recreational experience, and to attract new nature based tourism to the region) sounds like bs to me. Is this just an excuse to make money and encourage development. Do we really need to bring more people into the Maine woods. If we do give me 1 good reason why. Maybe we do need an airstrip and all the commerce and jobs this would provide since some want to " modernize" the woods. Let's not fool around with conservation sounding stuff. Why don't we build a couple of large hotels in the 100 mile wilderness and really get some money flowing ( with new roads, trails, gas stations, and convenience stores). Lets not bs about making money and hide it with conservation.

Yes. Jeremiah. AMC is a far better choice than "other development." Except for a few family corporation owners, most of the 10 million acres of north woods in Maine have been sold over the past 15 years or so. Most of it has been bought by developers.

A few special places have been bought by conservation groups. The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust, which I helped found a few years ago, has purchased land that abuts the Appalachian Trail in the Saddleback area.

The Nature Conservancy has purchased giant tracts along the trail in the 100-mile-wilderness, and along the wild St. John River.

The taxpayers of Maine have purchased a million acres of easements along the Penobscot River and elsewhere, also to keep a bit of the North Woods wild.

And AMC has purchased 66,000 acres. The state easement purchases allow continued wood harvesting in an effort to preserve as much as possible of the wood products industry, which provides employment for thousands of Maine families. AMC, bowing to public pressure, is following the state's lead and allowing limited harvesting to continue.

I personally wished that AMC would just raise the money, buy the land, and then allow it to revert to the wilderness it was 150 years ago. But TJ is right. AMC is in the outdoor recreation business. It differs from most in the business by being in the environmentally responsible branch of the outdoor recreation business.

Recreation coupled with land protection is why the club was founded 135 years ago. Public recreational facilities in woods and mountains and along lakes and streams is what the club does.

Though I prefer wilderness (with trails), I have no real quarrel with anything the club has done on its 66,000 acres. Rich B. is right. Hikers for generations to come will enjoy the protection AMC is providing to a special section of Maine.

The land was on the market. If AMC hadn't bought it, the area would now be promoted as a home for condos, golf courses, and luxury resorts, not the cabins with their wood stoves that AMC rehabilitated at Little Lyford Pond and is rehabilitating at other camps in the shadow of the Barren-Chairback Range and on one of the Roach Ponds.

For nearly two decades I've lived mostly on monthly Social Security checks. But because land protection is my passion, I've eked out a few thousand to help the Maine Appalachian Trail Club purchase the summit of a wild mountain next to the trail near Saddleback, and to help a local land trust buy land in my town.

How much have you donated, Jeremiah? Remember, only those who pay the bills get a chance to call the shots in this society.

Weary (a founder, former president, and now a director of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust) www.matlt.org

[weary]

Those wishing to keep up with AMC actvities in Maine might want to glance at "Wilderness Matters," the newsletter that I produce for chapter members.

the newsletter is now being posted on line. It's available at:

http://www.amcmaine.org/wp-content/u...901001-WM1.pdf

Weary