A timber management company is offering to donate one of the last remaining privately owned parcels of land around Katahdin Lake to Baxter State Park.
Five years ago, Baxter State Park officials accepted the deed to roughly 4,000 acres surrounding Katahdin Lake and, in the process, achieved the original vision of the late Gov. Percival Baxter, who had been unable to obtain the lake property for the park he singlehandedly created.
But the 2006 deal did not include two small parcels, or in-holdings, that remained in private hands. Now, the owner of the larger of the two parcels — Huber Resources Corp. of Old Town — wants to give the land to the park free of charge.
“It just seems like the right thing to do for the park and for the people of the state,” said Peter Triandafillou, vice president at Huber Resources, which manages approximately 600,000 acres of timberland in Maine formerly owned by the Huber family. Details of the exact size of the Katahdin Lake property were not available Monday, with estimates varying from 90 to 160 acres.
Triandafillou said it was difficult to put a price on the property, given its remote location and unparalleled view of Mount Katahdin. But he said $1 million wouldn’t be out of the ballpark.
The Baxter State Park Authority is scheduled to vote whether to accept the donation during a meeting in Augusta on Jan. 12.
Jym St. Pierre, a vocal conservation activist who works for RESTORE: The North Woods, first posted an item about the Huber offer on www.maineenvironews.com, a website that he maintains.
St. Pierre called the donation offer “great news” and the Huber land “the most important missing piece of the Katahdin Lake puzzle.” Because the property is undeveloped, few visitors likely realize it is not part of the park already. But St. Pierre pointed out that the parcel includes the lake’s outlet stream as well as a beach with stunning views of Mount Katahdin that inspired famous painter Frederic Edwin Church and many other artists.
“So it is significant particularly because so many people who go to the lake use that part of the property,” St. Pierre said.
Baxter State Park officially annexed the main, 4,000-acre Katahdin Lake parcel back in December 2006 following a heated political battle that, at times, threatened to scuttle the deal. The transaction was part of a complicated, multiparty deal involving the Gardner Land Co., the state, 35,000 acres of timberland and $14 million in private money raised by land conservation groups with the active involvement of Maine officials.
While park users have welcomed the additional land, which features a historic sporting camp, the deal remains controversial among some sportsmen angry that they cannot hunt or trap on the 4,000 acres. An additional 2,000 acres to the north of the parcel that was included in the deal remains open to hunting and trapping.
The latest Huber deal appears unlikely to encounter much opposition, however, given that the land is a gift to the park and is already largely surrounded by park land.
Sherry Huber said the Huber family believes the Katahdin Lake parcel was the first piece of Maine land that her father-in-law purchased in the state. The Hubers would eventually come to own more than a half million acres in the state, becoming one of the state’s largest and better-known timber families.
Huber said she personally became convinced that the undeveloped parcel, which she described as “a beautiful piece of land,” should become part of the park. So when officials from Huber Resources approached family members about donating it to the park, she and others heartily agreed.
“The answer came back loud and clear that we would be supportive of that,” Huber said Monday.
During the past two years, Huber Resources has sold the vast majority of the former Huber lands to Conservation Forestry LLC, a New Hampshire-based investment firm. Huber continues to manage the land for Conservation Forestry, however.
Baxter State Park officials could not be reached for comment Monday.
Sincere thanks to the Huber family for their generous donation to Baxter State Park.
The 90 to 140 acres to this part of Baxter will certainly enhance the recent Katahdin Lake acquisition. Additionally, this donation is free of charge, and has “no strings or agenda attached.”
I love camping and hiking in Baxter State Park…been enjoying it for over 60 years. It’s my favorite place in Maine.
Here is a map of the subject parcels. Zoom in to see them north and south of Katahdin Lake outlet.
http://bdnpull.bangorpublishing.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MillinocketLand.png
quite the large tax deduction worth more than its worth by far-lets see.. heres the plan -inflate the value and get more than its worth back on the taxes?…..
maine will lose taxes on this as well.
Of course, there would be no tax breaks to RQ should she be involved in a similar transaction, now , would there?
Well, if you read the article, Huber is more or less liquidating their forestland holdings and selling them off to another TIMO, even if they continue to manage those lands. But this land could very well be worth $1 million. Look at the view! Plus, it might be possible to add road access (not from the Park side but from the eastern side) and the property is buffered by permanently conserved lands of BSP. If this were sold for development, it would have a VERY high price tag.
I think that is a low price. This would be easily worth more than a million to the right buyer.
What? where is the NOPARKFORME post? Where’s all they “local” people who claim to have a more viable interest in the area? I don’t see any Fin and Feather Club rejections? There goes the hunting and snowmobiling.
Exactly. Their big fear is that their caretakers such as Huber Corp. will eventually unload in a direction they do not like.
And Sherry Huber is a former republican legislator, gubernatorial candidate (twice) who is an ardent environmentalist. The family was once the largest landowner in the state.
Holy Crap they can’t do that the paper mills would crash to the ground, the sky would fall.
Kudos to Huber for donating the land to the State of Maine for BSP – a STATE park.
There are beautiful new lean-tos on the BSP lands on Katahdin Lake. Great hike out there–lots of bog bridging but also many orchids in the summer! Go out an enjoy ’em, folks.
Been going into Katahdin Lake in the winter on Snowmobiles since i was a kid and took my own kids also, we had hotdogs over a fire and didn’t bother anyone, But since the the Katahdin lake land scam and Quimby that tradition is no more, But when you deal with Preservationist its always a taking and people from away don’t understand our way of life, they always want to control ours maybe its time we have say in their backyards and see how they like it.
Quimby and Restore get her way, and it will be a lot bigger area than that. Though it did say, I believe that Huber maintaines the Nature Conservancy land, so be on the look out.
You mean the same park that kicked people out of there leases and burnt their camps down. Removed all of the historic buildings, and removed the presence of MDOT and MIFW so they could answer to no one.
Yup, of course they say they are interpreting ” Gov. Baxters Deeds of Trust” I think they should actually read them. It is my opinion that Gov. Baxter believed in a balance. I remember when you could snowsled in the park. Look how they kicked the Boy Scouts of the Park as well.
That is a very pretty photo Mr. Bukaty.
Kluck Kluck, Kluck Kluck
The battle cry of back woods nihilists
Kluck Kluck, Kluck Kluck.
The important part is that this land is going to the STATE park for people of this state and tourist to enjoy and will remain under STATE control. Thank you to the Huber family for your generous donation and thank you even more for not selling out to the national park zealot.
Couldn’t leave the Bubba cheap shot on the shelf could you?
No Cecil I could not and the 1st Amendment allows me to say what I feel, I am an American and that is my birth right.
Mendacity it certainly a part of your birthright. You can take aboard as much as you can handle in this life but that still doesn’t make it an optimal tool in day to day living and decision making with important ramifications for this and future generations.
Given that the Katahdin Lake swindle most likely cannot and never will be undone, this is a positive step. But there is still a deception by omission here: the “original plan” Baxter once had
became a dead issue when he failed to purchase the Katahdin Lake lands.
He turned his efforts toward purchasing the lands north of the
mountain, eventually having the Park reach its pre-2006 boundaries. All
during that time he never once turned his attention back to Katahdin
Lake or mentioned it to his Park staff. I have this as a direct
statement from the gentleman who was Baxter State Park Supervisor during
that period.
Kevin Miller perhaps didn’t have the time or
possibly even did not know of reasons to look further into Baxter’s
actions and his reasons. But there are plenty of folk surrounding
Augusta who have a long record of presenting an incomplete picture &
distorting as much of that as they can.
Your post makes no sense, FYI.
Sorry for accidental double post.
The land is worth well over $1 million in my mind and he’s giving it up free of charge for people of the state to enjoy. I don’t know many people who would be willing to give away something they owned worth $1 million plus dollars. I think in his honor we should name the beach Huber Beach.