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TIME FOR ACTION....THE ISLAND IS SLIPPING AWAY Email Fair Play 2008 Updates Latest Sears Island Updates on Pen Bay Blog HERE
October 15, 2008.
At a packed Statehouse hearing room today, members of the Joint Committee on Transportation reacted with suspicion to the latest version of the Sears Island Joint Use Committee's plan brought before them. LISTEN TO RECORDINGS FROM THE EVENT HERE This latest iteration grants ENGO Maine Coast Heritage Trust a perpetual conservation easement over 600 acres of the 940 island, while simultaneously opening the western third of the island to industrial port development. Opponents of the port plan have been suggesting to committee members that the lengthy draft conservation easement contains wording in its fine print that will give the Sierra Club and Maine Coast Heritage Trust the ability to fend off any future port plan. The whisper campaign seems to have worked. After listening to Transportation Commissioner Cole presentation, and following a lengthy question & answer session, the committee decided (1) They would not vote on approving or disapproving the still-incomplete Joint use Plan (there are still issues with the exact wording of the easement) , and (2) they didn't trust Sierra Club, Friends of Sears Island and Penobscot Bay Alliance not to turn around once the legislature signed off on the JUPC plan and and stab them in the back by suddenly bringing anti port litigation up when a container port wanabe rears its head. Lush photographs of the island taken a few days earlier proved popular with committee members, though Chairman Damon took umbrage at the term "sacrifice zone" that accompanied the online picture gallery of the natural environment in the proposed port zone that he was referring to. There'll be another legislature meeting on Sears Island next month. Who knows what will happen? October 15, 2008 Legislators to get JUPC "progress" report & citizen oppo to port plan in the statehouse today.
Foes of the plan will have a display showing the ecological value of the third of the island that would be paved over within the proposed 300 acre industrial sacrifice zone. The MDOT plan includes granting a perpetual conservation easement to Maine Coast Heritage Trust on the eastern 600 acres of the island. In turn, MDOT will be allowed to market the western 300 acres of Sears Island and more than 200 acres of adjoninig intertidal land as an industrial port development zone. Not good. Come speak truth to power. 01 September 08
Travesty Island, a Drama to Save Wasumkeag
Take a tour of the Sierra Club's Sears Island Sacrifice Zone,. 5 August 08 Check out photos from the Fair Play table at the 2008 Maine Lobster Festival. 30 June 08 Media coverage of the 6/25/08 JUPC public Info meeting 29 Jun 08
21 Jun 08
Please sign and comment on our petition to stop the dual use plans for Sears Island Click Here.....We will use this petition to try and convince the Sierra Club to withdraw their support for this development deal and ask the Gov to dissolve the entire process due to lack of environmental support.....so please sign it and pass it on to all your friends....We need to show there is widespread discontent among the Maine environmentalists for this deal...... The next event we will attend will be held in Belfast at the Hutchenson Center at 7:00 PM, 25 Jun.....This is a public information meeting where the committee tasked with dividing up the island intends to show off their handiwork....They will allow us to make comments....even on philosophical subjects such as if a port is appropriate on Sears Island.....They wanted to talk only about their easement and the boundries......The last time they held one of these meetings, the public turned out in force to protest any development for the island....their voices were ignored by the committee which came up with a plan that included not one but two separate development areas....If we are going to be successful at stopping this development deal, we must have a good showing of dissenters at the meeting....Now is the time to take action...If we fail to produce the numbers here, the dual use policy most likely will become the law of the land...Please try to be there if you care about preserving wild places...We need your help to save the island from development.... If you can't make it on the 25th, please sign our petition [LINK] including comments, to end this madness....we will read your comments if you are unable to attend....[if there are enough]... We will be taking part in another call in show at WERU on thursday 26 Jun from 10-11 AM...the topic will be this Give-Away deal...Call us up and let's talk...the toll free number is 1-866-625-9378 Thanks for your support Fair Play For Sears Island 17 Jun 08
The Maine Department of Transportation has submitted a formal application for an Umbrella Wetlands Mitigation Bank to the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. The ACE public notice begins: "Maine DOT proposes to establish a [federal] umbrella mitigation bank with the entire state of Maine as a service area." MDOT's stated objective is to "streamline the [i.e., circumvent the Clean Water Act] Section 404 permit evaluation process by ... compensating in advance for unavoidable wetland impacts resulting from state transportation projects." Kyla Bennett, New England director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) -- formerly a U.S. EPA attorney who intervened to protect Sears Island in the 1990s -- has called wetlands mitigation banking a shell game that has resulted in a net loss of wetlands everywhere it has been tried. In an e-mail obtained through a FOIA request (link), a Federal Highway Administration wetlands biologist, Brian Smith, defines for his colleagues in March 2008 the option now being considered for Sears Island: a port for an easement area, an easement area for a port. That's the essence of the first sentence. The last sentence offers an informed guess about which state government department is behind the agreement linking port development with conservation on Sears Island.
Coming up fast! MDOT's June 19th "public meeting" on its Umbrella Mitigation Plan for Maine 3pm, MDOT Headquarters, 24 Child Street, Augusta, Maine. Neither Sears Island nor any other natural places in Maine will be safe if this Plan passes. Come speak, asking for a formal public hearing. Or write a letter or send an email (addresses below) A 'Public Meeting' is not good enough. The Umbrella plan is one of the foul discharges of the outgoing Bush Administration, as it seeks to let sprawl developers and polluters get away with simply paying a fee to destroy as much habitat as they like and pollute as much water as they like. Because someday, somewhere, an equivalent amount of habitat will be protected. Bottom Line: If enough people ask, the Corp of Engineers will hold a public hearing. Its up to you and to all of us! Write to: Ruth Ladd, Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Division, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-275. Or email her at Ruth.M.Ladd@usace.army.mil Deadline July 3rd. Note: Ms. Ladd prefers emails. Army Corps of Engineers' Public Notice about the meeting 9 Jun 08 WE had our call in show at WERU and things went well..... audio available at Full show ...or individual speakers .There were more callers than we had time for....Thank you to all who took the time to call..... Especially Jonathan Carter....What a morale booster to get a call from him.....We discussed the Sears Island situation with Ken Cline from the Sierra Club.... He made 2 admissions concerning the SC endorsement of this give-away we thought interesting ....... [1] He admitted he was concerned about the land banking mitigation scheme .......The MDOT wants to use some of the conservation side for wetlands mitigation so his concern is well founded. [2] His second concern was over the 4F issue. Read a "five minute review" of 4(f).......There is congressional protection written into the this federal highway law [4F] that protects the public from over-enthusiastic state DOT's. The 4F issue was described by Commissioner Cole [MDOT] as a potential "problem". But he said we could get around the 4F review if we had an agreement between MDOT and local environmentalists that stated all parties accepted the possibility and appropriateness of a port co-existing on the island with a park. How lucky for MDOT they have a sociable SC to hand over just the easement they need....Pretty Lucky indeed........We have a letter written by a Federal Highway employee [link]....stating that without an easement, there will be no port. The easement is a necessary part of the initial ground work the MDOT must accomplish long before any port proposal is made. For the Sierra Club to brag about the fact they have not endorsed any port proposal is disingenuous because no port proposals have been made. The SC has given MDOT its permission to actively market the port concept to the industry effective immediately.... I guess they think this will help to fight the port..... In that same letter the federal highway fellow remarks that the easement looks like it was written by the MDOT...implying it went the MDOT's way all around....So much for a hard fight and input from the environmentalists..... MDOT got everytinkg it wanted and more.....Remember, it was only demanding 280 acres or so the last time....it never coveted the 600 acres the weak willed environmentalists take great credit for saving....saving from what is what I wonder.....There whole position is eyewash....... We made our points at WERU and the same was true at the demonstration in Searsport the next day. About 10 of us showed up to protest the give-away at the regular meeting of the committee tasked with dividing up the island. We complained about them ignoring public input and we mentioned the land banking/mitigitation scheme and the 4(F) issue.....We want our feelings made part of the official record....Dianne Smith, who runs the committee, decides what will be part of the record and what will not.... Mr Cline also conceded the SC membership may not have been involved as much as they should have in deciding on supporting this give-away. Mr Cline promised us he would seek out a way for us to contact the membership to discuss this issue....He stopped short of withdrawing his support for the Give-Away but said he would entertain our position..... Our plan is to continue the public pressure on the SC until they grant us access to the membership and allow us to explain the situation as we see it and poll them to see if they do indeed support the great give-away....If they do not, we expect the SC to withdraw its support and join with us in asking the Gov to set aside this committees work and put the issue out to referendum ..... Our list of supporters is growing every day....If you want to become involved, contact us....We could use your help....You can make a difference... thank you Fair Play For Sears Island June 4, 2008 upcoming events We will be taking part in a WERU call in show 5 Jun 08 from 10-11 hrs the toll free call in 3 is 1-866-625-9378....give us a call if you are near a phone tomorrow AM We will be discussing this give away deal with some environmentalists that actually think this is a great deal for everyone involved....a win win they call it....they get to dig up and pave over about 11/2 of the island, the part with the eel grass...and then they get to grade and degrade the recreation side for the glory of environmentalism....hard to figure how some people think....it gets easier to understand when you realize all the parties making these decisions to divide up the island are are serving their own self interests.....they are all empire building at our expense.....MDOT will get an unnecessary port to build and manage....and the land trusts will get a recreation area, complete with buildings [10,000 sq ft and that's just the ground floor]....that doesn't include an amphitheater, parking lots, and whatever other improvements they decide they need to make the island a better place....i know Scott Dickerman, of Coastal Mountain Land Trust has been advocating building a restaurant out there since day one of the discussions. Also, right from the start, Steve Miller of Ilseboro Island Trust wanted to build an education/welcome center on the island itself, eventhough land is available on the mainland for such things. Both the land trusts and the MDOT will probably have to hire additional people [empire building] just to handle the increased workload their agencies will face managing their new responsibilities. Both sides of this issue [at least those left at the table] had development plans in their pockets when we started these discussions and couldn't wait to get them implemented....If this agreement stands, the only compromising will have been done by the people of Maine who want the island to remain undeveloped....the other parties got just what they wanted....More stuff to manage....It boils down to an issue of job security....both sides talk of all the jobs their plans will bring to the area, but they fail to mention most of the jobs will be within their own organizations....This is a case of corporate and elitist welfare....another give away program to take from the weak to give to the powerful..... Our second activity will be a peaceful demonstration at the next meeting of the committee tasked with dividing up the island....It will be at the First Cong Church on Church street in Searsport, 6 Jun 08 from 1130 until about 3 or so.....we are protesting the unfairness of this predetermined DUAL USE philosophy......We fell the island is worth much more as a whole....and worth far,far less as a picnic area bordered by a cargo port. Come join us if you can....all are welcomed. Check out this poem by Sally Jones ODE TO SEARS ISLAND Farewell dear Sears Island, Sears Island adieu
Farewell to those walks on a clear fall day,
Farewell, dear Sears Island, Sears Island good bye,
Sears Island, we'll never walk all 'round you again
- Sally Jones --------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 2, 2008 Fair Play's JUne 2nd letter to the editor in Bangor Daily News. May 29, 2008. Pictures from the Requiem March Click Here!*** Waldo Independent Coverage. May 29, 2008 The REQUIEM for Sears Island was a big success. Thank you to all who participated. Our latest guess at how long we have to reverse this agreement has been moved up to Sept of this year. If the deal is approved by Augusta, it will be law and the island will be established as a port zone. You can help us by writing to the Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club and asking them to withdraw their support for this giveaway. We are working to reconcile the discrepancy between what the National SC reports on its website: "The state of Maine, for example, is trying to build a bulk-cargo port on Sears Island that would destroy the island's rich wetlands--a project the Club is actively campaigning against. ".... and what is reality. The Maine Chapter also says they are trying to save the entire island. No mention of this give away deal. We doubt if the membership of the SC in Maine even know what is being done in their name. Please help us correct this situation any way you can. May 18th, 2008 REQUIEM MARCH May 24th UPDATE Bring signs saying "Sierra Club Lies, Sears Island Dies" or "Goodbye Eelgrass, Goodbye Bay". Dress in black or wear a black armband or ribbon to signify mourning. Bring a snack and something to drink. Got a drum? A bugle? Bring it! A bucket also makes a good drum. Come have fun on a beautiful island beach and show your support for keeping Sears Island wild and free. May 16, 2008.
On 24 May, 10 am. please come help us say good bye to our old friend.. ....We are planning an information sharing event to coincide with a Sierra Club outing on the island. We will be leading the funeral procession down the road that will become a super highway for 18 wheelers...across the spot where the 3 beds of railroad tracks will sit....strolling down to where the public will soon no longer be allowed to stroll......to the eel grass beds....There we will set the island's spirit free by floating the coffin out to sea.....Come by around 1000 hrs and bring a lunch.....Wear black and plan to have some fun and a nice day on the island...with other nice people....Please contact us if you are planning to attend so we can make adaquate plans....Hope to see you there.... May 3, 2008 PREEMPTIVE STRIKE & CAPITULATION Preemptive Strike and Capitulation is not a law firm representing MDOT, but it should be. The State launched this strike because environmentalists asked for a public hearing/decision making process on the future of Sears Island. When Gov Baldacci agreed to our request, we hoped we could save the entire island. After all, the public was clearly behind us and all economic and social indicators pointed to the preservation of special natural resources like Sears Island, as the wise thing to do. [ Preserving the entire island as a nature based tourist destination is still the wise thing to do. ] But what the State provided was much more than we anticipated [and we were about to be had]. Gov Baldacci insisted on a consensus [no voting] DUAL USE agreement from business, MDOT and Maine's environmental community. He hired a facilitator to insure his DUAL USE agreement was reached, all the while stressing the importance of public opinion. That public and their opinion showed up in pretty large numbers and said overwhelmingly and repeatedly, they wanted to keep the island undeveloped. Even Maine Sierra Club was calling for removal of the causeway. But, in typical State fashion, more meetings were scheduled and more committees formed, the public lost interest and the only ones left at the meetings were the paid representatives of special interests. The focus switched from "how to please the public" [something for us all].... to "how to please the boss " [ something for me]. In spite of an overwhelmingly no-development position from the public, we end up with this consensus agreement that allows for BOTH port and environmental development. Obviously not the will of the people. Past development schemes were defeated by a green team starring the Sierra Club. But now the SC has switched sides. They have teamed with MDOT and business and support a proposal that allows for a port to be built on Sears Island and removes the SC's right of to oppose the port when it comes. And MDOT sneaks away with more land than they were hoping for [340 vs 280 acres] and a "No Mas" promise from the Maine environmentalists. Those of us opposing development of the island resent the SC's willingness to capitulate and agree to the appropriateness and the inevitability of a port on Sears Island. We believe the best future for the island involves preserving it in it's entirety for the public and adding it to the signature natural resources we market to the world [sans port]. The State played this Sears Island situation brilliantly, although unfairly, and they hood-winked us. They went to great lengths gathering public input then they ignored that input. They got the Sierra Club to bail on a long held principle [DUAL USE for SI], and soon that DUAL USE plan will be approved by Augusta with environmentalist support. The SC agrees Maine should actively market the Sears Island port concept immediately and promises not to oppose any future port proposals. That closes the door on a wild and free Sears Island for ever, without a fight . The best part for the State is they will be able to claim environmental support for this betrayal of the public trust. The Sierra Club's capitulation is particularly depressing when you consider the threat Maine faces from Plum Creek and others. This is a time when Maine environmentalists should be banding together to fight the push for unnecessary development and profiteering and to preserve as many of our natural treasures as possible. We were hoping Sears Island would become a galvanizing issue for the environmental movement. How can we save the North Woods if we can't save this tiny island? We are deeply disappointed in the Sierra Club and others who secretly want a wild island but publicly support this agreement. Its time for the large, influential environmental groups to live up to their responsibilities and speak out against the SC's support for this agreement. We can still stop this! This agreement will unravel if the Sierra Club comes to its senses and withdraws its support. The State needs to appear green on this one and they are getting the help of the Sierra Club. Please don't let them get away with it. You can help by writing Gov Baldacci ... governor@Maine.gov... and asking him to respect public opinion, and ask Joan Saxe ...maine.sierraclub.org... to withdraw SC support for this agreement. Sign up to help us fight a port at FairPlayForSearIsland.Org. Harlan McLaughlin
========================================================== 29 April 08
Best estimates now are that we have until next winter before the issue is reintroduced to the Legislature's Transportation Comm. During this time we are dedicating our efforts towards the Sierra Club. We plan to try and establish a base of support amongst the members of the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club. We are asking folks to write to Maine Sierra Club Chair Joan Saxe to register their disapproval and to ask her to reconsider and withdraw her support for this farce of an agreement. We are also asking folks to cc their emails to the Maine chapter's general e-address and to the national office of the Sierra Club on the same e-letter to register their disapproval. We all need to do what we can to change this situation before it solidifies into rock, and that rock turns out to be a headstone which reads "SEARS ISLAND....RIP". WE ONLY HAVE A SHORT TIME IN WHICH TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. TAKE ACTION NOW. Thank you! April 15, 2008 We have reached the point where a proposal is looming to divide Sears Island into 2 portions.
The proposal will be presented to the Transportation Committee maybe as early as 27 Apr 08, and we expect an immediate approval. .....they are the "deciders" on the future of the island
We need people to email Governor Baldacci and Joan Saxe to tell them the Sierra Club doesn't speak for all Mainers; we favor keeping the island development free..... ===================================================== 18 Mar 08 Currently, the process to sacrifice Sears Island to the gods of greed, is sailing smoothly along towards a port. The group meeting to divide up the island [ including MDOT and the Sierra Club ] is working to circumvent a Federal protection from DOT that Congress granted the public [us] by a short law called "Section 4(f)" It is officially called: 9 U.S.C. 303 Policy on Lands, Wildlife and Waterfowl Refuges, and Historic Sites. This [in short] prevents MDOT from grabbing special places like Sears Island for their own developmental purposes. Our disappointment with the Sierra Club and the local land trusts is incredible. They are agreeing to the appropriateness and inevitability of a cargo port on Sears Island. Check out the Maine Sierra Club website . Until very recently Sierra Maine was uncompromisingly opposed to port development on Sears Island. Now, they have joined with industry in drawing up an island port plan complete with railyard, tracks and gates. They go to great lengths to hide their complicity from any interested nature lovers. Because of this duplicity, they have devoured all the good will [reputation] they had accumulated among regular "Mainers" by opposing the last port effort so effectively. Now the weight of the entire Sierra Club is firmly behind a dual use for the island. A cargo port and a park. They are not only supporting the wrong side of the port issue, they are doing it dishonestly. They refuse to discuss the merits of their plan to allow a port in exchange for a development of their own. This is a sad day for Maine environmentalists. You can help by contacting us {LINK} and adding your support to our effort to keep the island port free. We hope to develop a standing army to fight any port proposal as soon as it rears it's ugly head. And it will. Part of the agreement the environmentalists are "chomping at the bit" to sign allows the MDOT to solicit port proposals. We need to be ready when that time comes. If you care, Contact Us Now ========================================================== 18 March 08 The national organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) , has expressed support for our position of keeping Sears Island port free. Folks are starting to sense the deception and duplicity. Also included below are other comments one from Peter Tabor from Searsport , Maine and one from Catherine Schmitt from Bangor. Maine
2007 Updates
3
April 07 The
State has moved the date for the final meeting of the Sears 29
Mar 07 If
you don't agree the best use for Sears Island is a dual use that
Thank
you Independent for Douglas Coffin and his editorial If
things continue to go the way they are going, Sears Island If
you love Sears Island for its wild qualities, take some Fair
Play For Sears Island DEATH
SENTENCE FOR A WILD SEARS ISLAND .....the
mainstream environmentalists have offered to accept the DOT's claim
on 1/3 of the island for transportation purposes in exchange for
the right to do their own developing on another 2/3. The
Sierra Club has teamed up with mainstream environmental groups like
lslesboro Island Trust [IIT], the Costal Mountains Land Trust, Earth
First, PenBay Alliance and others, to push a plan for the island
that is sort of the bastard child of the MOU the DOT forced upon
Searsport and a flawed economic study commissioned by Steve Miller
and IIT and friends. Is
it a surprise the groups are holding on to this portion of their
economic development study ? They must be desperate to show their
boards that not all the money was wasted? Even if it costs us 1/3
of the island for a port, their jobs will be secure. And if their
groups can get a footprint on the island, their involvement will
be ongoing. This is empire building at its finest. Fair
Play For Sears Island offered up a proposal that neither prevented,
nor guaranteed port construction on Sears Island. Our idea allowed
for recreation on the entire island [sans development] until such
time as a legitimate port proposal was justified to, and approved
by, the legislature. We were betting no such proposal would become
a reality and thus the entire island would be preserved for recreation/buffer.
We also believed a future legislature would be the appropriate approval
authority. It is a state resource and the people deserve a say.
We discussed this idea with the pro porters and they didn't favor
involving the legislature in any approval process but they had no
objections to allowing us use of the entire island until any approval
process was completed [and they liked the idea of no buildings and
parking lots]. The
"Preservation and Port" vision group has offered the transportation/pro
porters the deal they were looking for [ the twin to the MOU the
DOT intimidated Searsport into signing ]. They offered to recognize
the DOT's long held claim on a large chunk of the island for marine
transportation uses, IN EXCHANGE FOR: the opportunity to do their
own developing. This deal virtually guarantees some type of marine
transportation facility will be built on Sears Island [soon], along
with a development project from the mainstream environmentalists
on the other side [ sort of a race to the bottom]. The DOT's claim
on this land was originally condemned by the same people who are
now offering it as their idea. There
will be language included in any consensus agreement that requires
the environmentalists to essentially pledge not to contest future
port development. Even if they agree, they will have their fingers
crossed. It wouldn't be out of character for them to say one thing
but do another. |
