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Media mogul to buy huge swath of Maine forestland

Posted Jan. 24, 2011, at 9:05 p.m.
Last modified Jan. 25, 2011, at 3:17 p.m.

AUGUSTA, Maine — Nearly 1 million acres of Maine forestland are about to change hands.

Under a deal slated to be completed Feb. 1, a company called BBC Land LLC with ties to a Colorado billionaire will purchase more than 900,000 acres — much of it in eastern and western Maine — from current owner GMO Renewable Resources.

John Cashwell, a local consultant for BBC Land, said very little will change under the new ownership. BBC Land will continue to manage the land as a working forest and will still allow public access for recreation, Cashwell said.

BBC Land plans to maintain the land’s certification as sustainably managed forestland. There also will be no change to the long-term contracts that guarantee a wood supply to Verso Paper’s mills in Jay and Bucksport.

“Pretty much the only thing changing is the name of the company that owns it,” Cashwell said Monday in an interview with the Bangor Daily News.

Cashwell declined to name the individuals behind BBC Land but described them as “a family from away with ties to Maine” committed to keeping it a working forest. He also declined to name a purchase price.

“This is not a short-term play,” Cashwell said. “It’s a family that is in it for the long term.”

But documents filed last week with the Maine Secretary of State’s Office listed John Malone of Englewood, Colo., as the only manager for BBC Land.

Malone is chairman of Liberty Media, an Englewood-based company with diverse media interests that include the cable channel QVC, the travel website Expedia.com, the Atlanta Braves baseball team and Sirius XM satellite radio.

Ranked No. 110 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans, Malone also has emerged as one of the country’s largest individual private landowners in recent years. Malone was No. 5 on a list of the Top 100 landowners in the U.S. in 2010 that was published by The Land Report magazine.

“My interest in land conservation is well known and this pending land purchase in Maine will further enhance these efforts,” Malone told The Associated Press. “I intend to continue the forestry operations consistent with prior practices.”

Malone was said to own 1.2 million acres, roughly the same amount as the Irving family, Maine’s largest single landowner. Depending on the scope of Malone’s involvement in the BBC Land deal, he could challenge or even top fellow media mogul Ted Turner as the largest private landowner in the U.S.

Malone already owns tens of thousands of acres in Maine. In 2002, he purchased more than 53,000 acres in western Maine and had previously purchased roughly 15,000 acres around Spencer Lake.

He also was a past national board member of The Nature Conservancy.

The land involved in the deal is located in several pockets around Maine, including a large segment in northern Hancock and Washington counties as well as a chunk north of Rangeley along Maine’s borders with New Hampshire and Quebec. BBC Land also will acquire more than 20,000 acres in New Hampshire as part of the deal.

The forestland has changed hands repeatedly over the last several decades. International Paper acquired part of the timberland from Champion International Co. in 2000, and then GMO purchased more than 1 million acres from International Paper in late 2004 for approximately $250 million.

Representatives for GMO did not return a call seeking comment on the anticipated sale. Representatives from the Maine Department of Conservation and Verso Paper also declined to comment on the private land deal.

Alan Hutchinson, executive director of the Forest Society of Maine, said there have been a number of large land sales in Maine in the past 10 to 15 years. Hutchinson said it was a good sign that BBC Land has indicated that it plans to keep the status quo on the tracts.

“We are always watching to see if these lands continue to be valued as productive working forest land, and that seems to be the case here,” Hutchinson said.

Patrick Strauch, executive director of the industry trade group the Forest Products Council of Maine, said he understands that the new investor is “in it for the long run.”

“I don’t think anything is going to change,” Strauch said. “It is another landowner as far as the council is concerned and we welcome them.”

But the transaction, if completed, would be different from many of the more recent, large-scale land sales in Maine in one notable respect.

Many of the buyers of large swaths of Maine forestland — including GMO — have been financial investment firms that some observers feared would be more interested in a quick financial return than long-term management of the land. Cashwell described BBC Land as a family ownership.

Still, a land deal involving nearly a million acres is guaranteed to raise eyebrows.

Cathy Johnson, North Woods project director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said land becomes more vulnerable to development when large areas of land change hands. Such development removes the land from the working forest landscape and affects wildlife as well as outdoor recreation, Johnson said.

So while BBC Land’s management approach may be the same, the sale underscores the importance of permanent land conservation in Maine and the need for the development reviews conducted by the Land Use Regulation Commission. LURC’s ability to control development within the Unorganized Territory is coming under fire from Gov. Paul LePage and Republican legislators.

“It just shows how fragile the status quo in the North Woods is,” Johnson said. “You can wake up one day and have 1 million acres change hands, and it could be completely different management.”

But Cashwell said the land sale will continue to support Maine jobs — both in the forests and the mills — while providing public access to the land.

“It’s good for Maine,” Cashwell said. “They will be good neighbors and will honor the commitments they have.”

BDN writer Christopher Cousins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=556394545 Kris Colford

Here we go with out of staters owning more and more of our state. I think if they want to own our state then they need to pay twice the taxes or they need to bring jobs into the area and keep the money in the area. Come on Maine, Enough is Enough!
Anonymous

If the headline is focusing on “media mogul,” don’t wait until the eighth paragraph to identify him.
Anonymous

They need to pay twice the taxes!?!?!? And people should buy and invest here why??
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HIGXPANXIJVKJJIKQAZU7TIYXU Ricardo Cabeza

Newsflash. Out-of-Staters already own most of the State, and most of the valuable waterfront properties, land tracts and everything else capable of generating future revenue streams. Maine people better get used to careers at Burger King and car washes.

The barn door may be closing but the horses are already long gone.
Anonymous

Indeed. They always have.

A quick look at a map of Maine that shows the townships might inspire a little research into what the designations of townships as NKBP or WKBP might mean. They refer to them as being N(orth) or W(est) of Bingham’s Kennebec Purchase. That ppurchase, made in 1793 in conjunction with a deal worked at the same time with Henry Knox, involved two million acres between the two buyers.

Suffice to say, Bingham was from away. Philadelphia, actually.
Anonymous

Actually they will pay less (probably) pretty sure all that land is covered by the Tree Growth Tax rules.
Anonymous

The 5 w’s of reporting have been ignored for years. It is getting frustrating. Now you have to search the whole article for who, what, where, when, and why. Why? In school I was taught the 5 w’s were were to be in the 1st paragraph.
Anonymous

where or where is this land????
yowsayowsa1

I guess the Sasquatch didn’t know this property was for sale;

http://www.npca.org/bestidea/champion-quimby.html
Anonymous

I don’t know where the pieces in Hancock and Washington counties are, but the land in western Maine is perhaps former IP land along the NH border in the Magalloway watershed, including Aziscoos andParmacheenee lakes – beautiful wild mountain and lake country. Malone has owned the shoreline of wild Spencer Lake for several years: built a huge lodge with a year-round resident manager and state of the art off-the-grid systems. He has maintained access and use of his lands for hunting and fishing, but has let it be known that such access is contingent on responsible use. At the time he bought it, one put-in site on Spencer Lake was often a mess, something he was not about to let be repeated. As a forest owner, he’s been a much better steward than many Mainers (as if that is a guarantee of anything). If anyone buys Maine land, better it be someone who actually sees it for what it is, not as a poker chip in the great investment cluster %!X*#$$$. Then again, for us Mainers, unless we buy it ourselves and make it state forest land (something we’ve done with the land swaps) all we can really do is watch and adapt. It is private property after all, so if the much-maligned LURC, imperfect as it is, is swept away there’s even less guarantee that any values other than $$$ will matter.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XJJB4XHAMZLXQVNALEYLZQBU4A Paul H

They’re either protecting the forestland or developing it. Good for Maine either way.
Anonymous

You’re right. Knox was from away as well. At that time the District of Maine was filling fast with people from away responding to veterans land grants and land speculators’ sales pitches and settlement schemes, a theme reaching way back into colonial history. If it wasn’t for people from away, reaching back to the last glacial period or so for some of us, none of us would be here.
Anonymous

“Tree Growth Tax” — welfare for the well-off.
Anonymous

Its the old St Regis land. Familiar with the Studmill road? Its Northern Hancock and parts of Washington county, basically north of Rt. 9
Anonymous

“or they need to brings jobs into the area and keep the money in the area”

I was unaware that foresters and (referring to non Canadian) harvest operators worked for free.
Anonymous

I’ve not been in those parts – well, once about thirty years ago. I wonder, is the stud mill road also the route the CCC out of Camp Bennington laid out in the mid-1930′s?
Anonymous

With the Penguin administration behaving as recklessly and irresponsibly as it is, I’m a huge fan of the private purchase of private woodland.
Anonymous

Give me a break.
Anonymous

I guess they have got to keep you reading the article somehow.
It worked on me this time. Not sayin’ its right though.
Anonymous

Hackers from Tunisia?

That just does not make sense. Tunisia found out just how horrible their dictatorship was through WikiLeaks and overthrew their govt. Now they are coming for Bangor Maine. I am going to have to pass this abject stupidity along to some political blogs. Tunisia? BWAHAHAHA
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_23JZEVCABTN6NNC6VFQTZAJNNA Mark

As far as i am concerned we are all Americans not just Mainers and “outta statahs”. I mean come on really, open your eyes and ask yourself why did these parcels change hands now? Is the reason because of the change down in Augusta? Maybe we could make more businesses feel welcome by being more open and friendly to them. The media puts it out there that we hate “Outtah Statahs” because frankly a lot of people from Maine say it and act proud of it, like we do not need there input and dollars. That is an arrogance that makes us number one on the welfare list. Mainers love that also, they can live in the beaten down trailer and act poor and collect over a grand a month doing nothing but acting the part!!! I suggest that if you get one dime from the state then pass a piss test and and if unemployed and get state help then you must have a weekly note from a community center stating that you helped clean or repair your own neighborhood. I guarantee there will be money saved from piss testing and we are giving the money out anyway so will only benefit from having the local communities kept in order. Oh Duh!! you suppose having a nice community would attract people to come and keep people here and if nothing else set an example for our children. It is time to stop bitching and d something. If nothing else just put some ideas out there…. One thing you are right about is- Come on Maine, enough is enough!
Anonymous

Except, of course, for the people who have always been here, the natives. The whites were the ones that were “from away”. Everybody always forgets that. The native people have been in this land for many, many generations.
Anonymous

You are forgetting that these lands – once owned by Champion and then I.P. – are farmed forests. They provide product for the mills that employ thousands of Mainers, not to mention the foresters and land managers that manage these lands. The major stockholders of the previous owners were from away. Luckily, the new owner is going to carry on managing the lands as workable forests which will only benefit the mill workers, etc. They also seem committed to continue allowing public access which is very important to our state. Hopefully, they are good stewards of the land – harvesting and then replanting, providing sustainable jobs, and allowing the public to use the land for recreation.

Would you rather the land be sectioned off into house lots? Would you rather all the jobs be lost that these workable forests provide? Any tree growth tax rules that apply only help to continue to keep these lands as working forests.
Anonymous

Yes, it is.
Anonymous

I didn’t forget it. There were no European migrants here at the tail end of the last glacial period. The people “from away” who hunted the caribou on the Maine tundra 10,000 years ago who might or might not have been the ancestors of today’s Native Mainers, moved in from points elsewhere. Except for some in Africa, no one on this planet descends from people who’ve lived nowhere else. Native is an accurate term if only applied in the near-past. Otherwise, migration is the main theme in the course of human events, and a good thing too. Nothing beats hybrid vigor!
Anonymous

My husband and I bought our land in Maine so that he could be closer to “home”. We live in Arkansas and visit as we can AND we pay our Maine taxes!

Maine was part of Massachusettes at one time. My family came over on the Mayflower, so am I also considered an “out of stater?”
Anonymous

Hows my suggestion on a per foot tax for waterfront sound now? Maine taxpayers have supported the land owners of the ut long enough.
Maineiac

I wonder what brand of lip balm Mr. Malone prefers.
Anonymous

A non-partisan posting:

Media mogul…? Big corporation, secret deal makers…? All very interesting.

This statement – “It’s good for Maine” – reminds me of that famous misquotation, “What is good for GM, is good for the country.” So now the statement should read, “What is good for corporations, is good for the country.” That is what we have become. The United States of America…? More like, the United Corporations of America…

This review applies and will give our conservative buddies something juicy to gnaw on:

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/05/the-predator-st.html
Anonymous

Rush Lipbalm, or Burt’s Mind you own Beeswax?
Anonymous

CCC road projects were to be for public use as well as for the owner, if the project site was on private land. Is that still the case there? CCC forest roads were primarily built to allow access for protection, not for industrial use alone. That was a side benefit one could say. Camp Flagstaff was closed after CCC investigators verified reports that its road projects were being used exclusively for hauling and were gated to keep out the public. Seems the camp forester was also an employee of the landowner, a typical example of what some call a “partnership” between a public agency and private interest. By the look of it, we may in for a bit more of that sort of partnership mightn’t we?
Anonymous

The proper term is “fluster-cluck.”
Anonymous

You’re right. The situation in this state is one that local year-round residents helped to create themselves. Local towns and municipalities along the coast and lakefronts use summer residents as cash cows to rake in tax revenue. Since money and power is concentrated unfortunately in the southern part of the state, they have no incentive to see things change. The rich swells (as well as many who can’t really afford to) pay their taxes and maybe throw some money in to keep the local library or whatever going, and town officials see to it that everything stays just the same, year in and year out, no new jobs, no economy. I guess they’re happy working as cooks and gardeners and nannies for the out-of-towners, as well as at fast-food joints and car washes. It’s devil’s bargain, and a lousy one at that.
harry H Snyder

What is the big surprise? Not one of the big paper companies was headquartered here. Remember? St. Regis (New York) Boise/Cascade (Idaho/Washington)Georgia Pacific (Georgia) Weyerhaeuser (Washington) New York Times (New York) Champion (Connecticut) International paper (Tennessee) James River (Virginia)

As to public use I see nothing but gates on the old paper company lands. The covenant between large land owners and the Maine people has been broken. It is time to tax these “development companies” at the same rate as other corporate interests.
Anonymous

The fact of the matter is that you are an out-of-stater – land or no land. But that isn’t a qualitative state, only a fact of legal residence. It makes on difference to me, nor to any but the most narrow of little minds. As for the Mayflower saints, they didn’t live in Massachusetts until Plymouth Plantation got absorbed by the growing Puritan empire of Massachusetts Bay, so I guess they were “out of staters” too. Again, no big thing – except possibly for those who pay dues to descendents of Mayflower passengers organizations. Not to worry.
Anonymous

Knox wasn’t from away since there was no Maine until 1820. We were all Massholes back then.

Besides he was one of the greatest heros of the American Revolution, without whom the British would have never been drive out of Boston. At 26 years old, his trek to secure the French cannons from upstate NY and bring them to Boston in the middle of winter (!) is without equal.
Anonymous

We got the break Don. Paul Lepage that Bangorian so glibly labels is now in charge. That’s the break we needed. Hopefully he will put this state back on the right track and also encourage people like Bangorian to return to new yawk where they came from.
Anonymous

Sorry, but yes.
Anonymous

Sometime before choosing “Vacationland” as our state slogan, our ancestors resigned our fates to being mostly rusticators, caretakers, loggers, clammers, now burger flippers and car wash attendants. Now, we host something like a national park for everyone. It’s a lovely place but we have precluded ourselves, with some assistance from outside Maine, from having a modern economy, in the process. The results have been a mixed bag. There’s no free lunch, I guess.
Anonymous

Tough stuff, the kind Maine nationalists love to read. But there’s one small thing in the way: Amendment XIV, Sec. 1 of the Constitution of the United States. Something about common citizenship, due process, equal protection of the law – things like that. Check it out.
It might grate one to see all that good land and locations owned by those non-residents who can afford it, but there’s nothing one can do but rage about it or stop fussing and find something else to do.
But then, one might try to avoid the constitutional obstacle by proposing legislation allowing for expropriation by eminent domain of all property owned by non-residents that does not provide some sort of employment. I imagine the bill’s lifetime would be far shorter than it took me to post the idea, but one could try, justifying it on the grounds that Mainers have an overriding public interest: feeling vindicated and, therefore, happy by sticking it to the outers. If nothing else, it might get a piece of the daily news cycle (total dismissal just as likely)and all sorts of nasty reaction, particularly if presented with chest thumping, finger pointing and vein-popping outrage. Hells bells, if we live in the great theater of the absurd, we might as well have a bit of fun. Right?
Remember: once upon a time, Jonathan Swift proposed solving the problem of Irish hunger and overpopulation by suggesting they eat their children. Not many thought his satire at all cute, but we still read ” A Modest Proposal” – some do anyway.
Anonymous

So relieved that the perps are now just plain hackers instead of Tunisian hackers. Makes me feel much more secure about the sanity of BDN staff.
Anonymous

You went to school???
Anonymous

the key word in this article is ‘investor”. that says to me that he/she is not in this for the long run , but rather more for the profit to be gained. When will the State wake up and start reclaiming this land for Maine. Considering that there is a vast profit to be made off of Maie real estate and also considering the massive debts we have accumulated over the past years of mismanagement of Maine, don’t you think it is timewe reclaim what rightrfully belongs to Maine????
Anonymous

my mother and father were both in the army in WWII as well and my wifes mother and father.. boo hoo to you and your husband
Anonymous

Yup just watch and see this billionaire is gonna get richer.. LaPage is gonna turn the forest into a commercial or resedential zone and this guy is gonna get richer.. Prolly got the property for near nothing of what its worth.. But he will prolly farm the lumber first making more cash for himself.. Soon developers will be coming to maine to demolish our forests under LaPage’s new reform..
Anonymous

Developer,,,, mmmm nope; this is starting to smell like Nature Conservancy stink.. If this is tied to the Nature Conservancy, then they are really gonna love Paul… ;-)
Anonymous

I think a few 25′ X 25′ “Ranch Lots” are still available at the foot of the land fills and under the windmills. Plenty of room for a big card board box and an outhouse. Don’t be greedy.
Anonymous

Tunisian hackers travel single file, to hide their numbers. ;-)
Anonymous

Very true, ……… the LURC lands get away paying almost nothing in taxes for valuable property. Why are we always looking for revenues in Maine? Look North, …..the big corporations are getting away with robbing the state’s small taxpayers.
Anonymous

Any out of stater is welcome since it gurantees a rise in the average IQ of Maine. Please register to vote here, we a return to sanity.
Anonymous

Pinegrower2, do a little more research and you’ll understand why Mainahs resent “flatlandahs” so much. Maine started as it’s own colony. It was then taken-over by the Mass Bay after Maine’s backers went bankrupt. Up until then, those in Maine got along for the most part with their native neighbors. Those neighbors grew dependent upon muskets for hunting. As soon as Mass Bay took over, they tried to take the guns away from the natives, thinking Maine natives were as dangerous as those they had dealt with in Mass Bay. The Maine natives revolted ’cause without guns, they’d starve. The resulting war put Maine back many decades as every settlement north of York was put to the torch.

“We” were more than happy some 200 years later to resecede from “Massholechusetts”.
Anonymous

I can see it in my mind’s eye and feel overwhelmed with fear. Also foreboding.
Anonymous

That’s because we can’t afford to buy the 3 room cabin sitting on 1/8 of an acre on East Grand Lake for $350,000.

We be po’. Always have been, always will be. No amount of out of state revenue will fix that… just more rich twats from away coming in to treat us like the backwoods inbreds the rest of the world views us as.
Anonymous

He has connection to the Nature Conservancy this is not a good deal for Maine in the long run !!
Anonymous

Tree Growth Tax Law is intended to promote a long-term forest products industry that will encourage land to be kept in forest and not be developed. You can’t have it both ways, folks!
Anonymous

Sad but true. I hope these folks have good intensions. I fear Maine will lose it’s forest while fighting about whether they should be able to drive a four wheeler through it. My personal hope is that someday it is all protected through a combination of Wilderness protection, and multi-use nation forest protection.
Anonymous

The people coming to see the parks will just think of the people as wildlife…….
Throw you guys some peanuts and popcorn…
Anonymous

Second try:

Pinegrower2, do a little more historical research and you’ll understand the negative reaction to “flatlandahs” buying up the state and “flatlandahs” (out-of-staters) in general. The negative reaction to people “From Away” dates back to the early 1600s.

You see, Maine started as it’s own colony. Then the backers of that colony went bankrupt and Mass Bay took over/absorbed Maine. We had valuable resources in the form of beaver pelts and ship masts (large, tall trees). We were perfect for exploitation. It was a trading post at what is now Augusta that saved the Pilgrams from bankruptcy. Mass Bay saw this and wanted a piece of the action.

Prior to this “hostile” take-over, Maine settlers got along (more or less) with their native neighbors. Those native neighbors grew dependent upon muskets to hunt and put food on the “table” for their families. Unfortunately, when Mass Bay took over and learned the natives had muskets, they panicked. They feared Maine natives would be like Mass natives, so they made the serious mistake of trying to take the muskets away from the Maine natives. Maine natives refused to give-up their only way to feed their families without a fight. The resulting war put every Maine settlement north of York to the torch. It took several decades for Maine to recover.

“We” were more than happy to “resecede” from Massachusetts some 200 years later and be on our own again.
Anonymous

They don’t even know how to turn a computer on over there….LOL
Anonymous

Bigfoots not going to be happy…
But he as been spotted North of that area…..
Waiting for the tractor pulls to start back up…
Him and Hong Kong Phooey are ice fishing sipping on a sud right now.
Anonymous

They named that road after me by the way….Stud Mill..
Maybe they will be able to find out who was growing the weed now…..
Anonymous

Yeah, like we’re the missing links?
Anonymous

“you guys”? don’t tell me u r a masshole!?
harry H Snyder

Wasn’t there a politician somewhere (I think Texas) who said; If you find yourself being raped you should just lie back and enjoy it?

being raped is probably not enjoyable. neither is being robbed.
Anonymous

No Im not….
Im a SMIB…:)
Anonymous

A Southern Maine Inland Bastard?
Anonymous

The gates are there because people won’t stay off the roads in mud season, or after big rains. I’ve seen what happens to soft roads, it cost a lot of money to fix. I’ve worked on this land for along time back when it was St. Regis, so I’ve got a lot of dirt roads behind me.
Anonymous

In case anyone was wondering where this land is, the 2nd paragraph tells the story. It’s in “eastern and western Maine”. Huh.
Timberyarder

I’m glad the new owners are going to keep this land a working forest, I spent a good portion of my life out there on the stud mill road. I worked with Champion and IP with the replanting crew, unfortunately GMO ended the replanting when they took over the land. I’m hoping the new owners will start the replanting again, a managed forest is a healthy forest, a lot of loggers, truckers and mill workers depend on this land to make a living.
Anonymous

you are hardly “non-partisan”. Your slogan….what is good for unions and big government layabouts is good for America?
http://katahdin.myopenid.com/ FrankC

What was the reason GMO stopped replanting?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YAM3QE3JATT5TEIPYZBCJITLCI belgian

I hope these people turn out to be much better stewards of the land than the last batch of land buyers were.This land will produce so much wood with the proper forestry practices. If they are truely in this for the long haul they are going to have to find some good foresters ,(that might be a problem) I haven’t seen one for 20 yrs or so,theirs always hope.Good logging practices will be a beneficial to all and BBC will make out like a bandit GREAT.
Timberyarder

The replanting program was going good, we were even replanting the old failed plantations,(clearcuts) that never regenerated, was great to see areas that were covered with low grade wood being transformed into beautiful spruce plantations, would have made for a great future. GMO investors purchased the land from IP and being investors didn’t want to spend the money, they cut as much as they could and sold out after a few years, I’m really hoping the new owners continue with replanting.
http://katahdin.myopenid.com/ FrankC

Thanks for responding. I thought there were standards, rules or laws that mandated planting many years ago. Am I mistaken or was that area to which you’re referring cut before that?
Timberyarder

I’m not sure if there were laws that mandated planting years ago, I know when I started working with CHAMPION it was paper company land, at the time they were planning on a future, they replanted every clearcut that was done, as the years went on and the clearcuts stopped we went into the old st regus clearcuts from years ago and mowed down years of brush and low grade wood and replanted spruce plantations.
Anonymous

I just googled”Spencer Lake” and clicked on the sattelite map. It appears the area is surrounded by tremendous clear cutting. Am I wrong? If not, and this is indeed tremendous clear cutting, does anyone know if this is Malones’ land and whether the cuts occurred since he bought it in 2002?
Anonymous

i call it the ‘stud dog millionaire’ road.
Anonymous

you are correct that out of staters are welcome here,but to suggest that Mainer’s are of low IQ clearly demonstrates your contenpt for Maine and the hard working people here
and generaly bad manners. May I suggest you take your distain for Mainer’s and leave tthe way you came and take daddy’s trust fund with you because your kind of sanity is not welcome here nor any where
http://katahdin.myopenid.com/ FrankC

Sure did a job on my front end several years ago.
Anonymous

And if it is YOUR land and you have not been found guilty of “mis Using ” it why would you need the GOVERNMENT to tell you how to run it. Without individual property rights there is no freedom
Anonymous

the land in Maine doesn’t belong to MAINERS it belongs to the people who OWN it!!
Anonymous

or for the small woodlot owner just trying not to have to sell it to send his kid to college
Anonymous

you mean like all the land in Russia??
Anonymous

did you not read the above comment by someone with a first hand knowledge of Mr.Malone and his treatment of “maine” land. (by sibleypd)
Anonymous

when will you wake up and stop expecting that it is the GOVERNMENT’s job to solve your problems.

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