logging in Baxter Park

[thuja]

Everybody seems to think Baxter is managed as a wilderness preserve. Some of it is not managed that way, though. According to the park website, the northwest quadrant of the park, north of the perimiter road and west of Matagamon lake, about 14% of the land area, is a designated "scientific forest management area" where logging is practiced. So far so good--this "scientific forestry" zone is in accordance with the terms of Baxter's bequest, and that still leaves 86% of the park managed as wilderness. Or does it? Aerial photos show some fairly fresh-looking logging road networks in other parts of the park. Consider
this area north of Abol pond and south of Katahdin, or this area just north of the Abol bridge. (the river here is the park boundary). This stuff doesn't look that old. fifteen years, maybe? Baxter started accumulating land in 1930, and bought the last bits in 1962, over forty years ago, according to the website.

So what's going on? Was some logging activity grandfathered when the land was bought? Did the "Scientific forest management area" shrink?

 

[spencer]

Good catch, Thuja.

It goes something like this:

The southeast-most parcel (largely the northern part of T2 R9) was the last to be added to the park. Baxter added it in 1963. Cutting rights were maintained for another ~20 years. I believe cutting rights were still being excercised in the early '80s. This is what you see in your second link. Note the picture is from 1998. As is often noted, Baxter made some concessions when absolutely necessary. He understood the long-term importance of certain decisions. That is partly why I think he would have approved of sacrificing some beautifully managed state lands to gain Katahdin Lake (if this doesn't make sense, send me a note).

It's more complicated, still. In 1977 there was a vast fire that broke out on the southern flanks of Katahdin. Some of it had been fuel-loaded by a prior wind-storm. The area burned. Some of it was then salvaged. There were numerous roads built to fight the fire, many of which were purely fire breaks. This is what you see in your first link. Note the picture is from 1996.

So, yes, there are logging roads there. No, BSP does not do logging anywhere except in the ~29,000 SFMA. Baxter understood the importance of forest management to Maine and wanted to provide a venue for serious forest stewardship in an era that desperately needed some. It is now some of hte best managed land in the state.

Jensen Bissell, the forester largely responsible for the exemplary SFMA, is now the park director.

I encourage you to take a walk through some of that area. You'll find a wonderful matrix of early successional forest species with interspersed remnants of the previous forest. Next time you are on the summit, take a look down in the Abol region and you'll be able to quickly identify the boundary of the fire, with some threads of intact forest winding its way along the stream.

Cheers,
Spencer

 

[RoySwkr]

In 1977 there was a vast fire that broke out on the southern flanks of Katahdin. Some of it had been fuel-loaded by a prior wind-storm.

I was in the park in Oct 1975 after the big windstorm, there were huge piles of deadfalls along the road and the Abol Slide Trail. Gene's story of trying to ascend Barren via the previous route from the SW and walking 10-20' off the ground on jackstrawed timber was enough to keep people off that route for a generation.

The funniest thing was all the signs along the road, "CRITICAL AREA - HIGH FIRE DANGER - NO SMOKING". I could just picture somebody reading one of those signs and tossing his lighted butt out the window.

 

[Mad Townie]

Didn't the north bank of the West Branch become the boundary more recently?

Don't have access to info at the moment, but I remember in the early '80's when the current footbridge across Abol Stream was a vehicle bridge. With a 4WD vehicle you could (and we did) drive all the way to Nesowadnehunk Stream, where it joins the West Branch. Great picnic spot, and great sliding down the ledges in the stream.

After the '77 fire you could drive in across the bridge, head a bit north and find some tremendous blueberry picking. Sit in one spot and fill a gallon pail without moving!