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3.21.2001 00:05
State invests in R.I.-size Maine
parcel with oil-spill payoff
 One state and two federal agencies contribute toward the purchase
of development rights to 1,191 square miles of forest in Maine with the hope
that nesting loons will replace birds killed here.
BY BRIAN C. JONES
Journal Staff Writer
Rhode Island yesterday acquired an interest in a huge tract of land in Maine
that is about as large as, well, the entire state of Rhode Island.
The state Department of Environmental Management, along with two federal agencies,
yesterday invested $500,000 toward the purchase of "development rights" that
will conserve 762,192 acres of forest in northern Maine.
The mammoth parcel of land contains 110 lakes and ponds that provide prime nesting
areas for loons — the same breed of birds killed by the Jan. 19, 1996, oil spill
from the barge North Cape, grounded off South Kingstown.
By joining the conservation project, Rhode Island hopes that loons in Maine
will produce scores of chicks that will grow up to replace 402 migrating loons
that perished here.
Rhode Island's contribution is a small portion of the $28 million spent by a
variety of foundations, government agencies and private donors to protect the
Maine land.
But it is just the solution Rhode Island has been looking for since the 828,000-gallon
North Cape spill, the largest in state history, destroyed the loons, along with
shellfish and other wildlife.
"I'm really excited," said Stephen G. Morin, assistant to the DEM director.
"This is an astounding piece of land."
"So far, people have counted 24 nest pairs of loons, and another 14 pairs that
aren't nesting," Morin said. Experts figured about 25 loon couples would be
needed to replace the lost birds.
The half-million dollars comes from $18 million won by the state and two federal
agencies last year in a settlement with the barge owner and its insurance firm.
The agencies — DEM, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration — formed the North Cape Trustee Council to cooperate
in wildlife restoration.
Of the settlement amount, $3 million was earmarked for loons.
Besides the $500,000 invested in the Maine development rights, another $250,000
will be spent to monitor to see whether the loons thrive.
The funds left over may be invested in other loon-protection or education projects,
Morin said.
Rhode Island land wasn't sought, Morin said, because loons don't nest in the
Ocean State.
Loons don't reproduce well in developed areas, Morin said, and yet they seek
the same expensive real estate as people do: prime waterfront.
The Maine project fits the bill, sponsors say, because it's the largest forestland
conservation easement in U.S. history. It protects portions of the St. John,
Machias and Aroostook rivers, as well scores of lakes, including Loon Lake.
The Pingree Forest Partnership involves land owned by a family of the same name.
The land will continue to be used for logging, which is being conducted in an
environmentally acceptable way, Morin said.
The New England Forestry Foundation, which participated in the deal, said that
the vast acreage makes the tract "larger than the state of Rhode Island."
It's another example of how tiny Rhode Island often is used to measure the girth
of oil spills, glaciers and forest fires.
For the record, Rhode Island is 1,545 square miles, of which 1,049 is land area;
the Pingree Forest plot occupies an estimated 1,191 square miles.
With reports from Journal environmental writer Peter B. Lord
Digital Extra:
Find a special report recapping
the North Cape oil spill and its impact at:
http://www.projo.com/specials/oilspill/
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