TAKE ACTION!
What you can do
TAKE ACTION!
What you can do
Voicing your opinion makes a difference. Plum Creek is spending a fortune running TV, radio and newspaper ads because the company knows public opinion is critical to the outcome of its development proposal.
Here are some important ways you can help prevent Plum Creek’s wildlands sprawl:
• Write a letter to the Land Use Regulation Commission. LURC staff and consultants will review all information and make recommendations to the seven-member citizen commission, which will decide whether to grant Plum Creek’s application for rezoning. Prior to public hearings, tell LURC what questions Plum Creek should address or additional information that is needed. You can also provide comments to LURC at public hearings. Write to:
Land Use Regulation Commission
22 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Catherine.M.Carroll@maine.gov
• Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers. Plum Creek can spend millions of dollars advertising. Citizens cannot do that, but we can get our opinions into newspapers on the letters page, which are read widely. If you see an article, editorial or letter to the editor about Plum Creek’s proposal or about the future of the Maine Woods, write a letter to the newspaper giving your opinion. See the editorial page of your newspaper for details on how to submit a letter or go to http://www.restore.org/Maine/write_editor.html for more information.
• Send copies of your letters to the governor and your legislative representatives. The governor and legislators are also key opinion leaders. Write to:
Governor John Baldacci
1 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0001
governor@maine.gov
Your state senator
Maine Senate
3 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0003
Your state representative
Maine House of Representatives
2 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0002
To find out who your elected officials are and their contact information, you may call the Maine House of Representatives Clerks Office at 287-1400 or go to: http://www.maine.gov/portal/government/edemocracy/lookup_officials.php
• Send copies of your letters to the SAVE MOOSEHEAD Campaign. It is very helpful for us to know that you have written letters to help save the Moosehead region and to know what you send to LURC and to newspapers. Please send a copy to mainewoods@restore.org or fen@prexar.com or to the SAVE MOOSEHEAD Campaign (address below).
• Sign-up for our SAVE MOOSEHEAD activist network. As an email activist you will receive updates on Plum Creek’s development proposal and notices of opportunities to express your opinion. As a postal mail activist you will receive notices of public hearings on Plum Creek’s application and any other critical events. Send your request to be added to the activist network along with your name, mailing address, phone number and email address to the SAVE MOOSEHEAD Campaign (address below).
• Sign and circulate petitions asking LURC to deny Plum Creek’s development proposal. These petitions will be submitted to LURC during the public hearings. To get copies of the petition call 207-626-5635, mail a request to the SAVE MOOSEHEAD Campaign (address below), or go to http://www.restore.org/Maine/Petition_PC.html
• Volunteer. Help with mailings, monitor newspapers, help organize volunteers, share your expertise (land law, real estate development, wildlife biology, soils, land use planning, economics, knowledge of the area, graphic design, fundraising, etc.), help operate booths at fairs and other events. Contact Ken Spalding at RESTORE or Jonathan Carter at the Forest Ecology Network (addresses below).
• Become informed. Learn more about Plum Creek’s development proposal so that you can inform others and improve your effectiveness when expressing your opinion. Go to the RESTORE (www.restore.org) websites. Contact the SAVE MOOSEHEAD Campaign for fact sheets.
• Support long-term conservation of the Moosehead region in a new Maine Woods National Park & Preserve. Such a national park would preserve millions of acres of the Maine Woods, create thousands of jobs, and provide world-class, low-intensity recreation opportunities. For more information, contact RESTORE or the Forest Ecology Network or go to www.restore.org.
• Contribute to the SAVE MOOSEHEAD Campaign. Send checks to the address below. Join RESTORE: The North Woods. Join the Forest Ecology Network. See the contact information below..
This article was originally published in the Fall 2006 edition of The Maine Woods, a publication of the Forest Ecology Network.
SAVE MOOSEHEAD P.O. Box 2118, Augusta, Maine 04338 phone: 207-628-6404 fax - 207-628-5741 email: fen@207me.com