For Immediate Release: December 31, 2007
For More Information:  Duane Scott, 624-3309

SEARS ISLAND JOINT USE PLANNING COMMITTEE
SEEKS POTENIAL EASMENT HOLDER

The Sears Island Joint Use Planning Committee (JUPC) is seeking an organization that may be interested in serving as the “holder” of an easement on a 600-acre area on Sears Island in the town of Searsport.  The JUPC is asking that letters of interest from potential easement holders, along with descriptions of their qualifications, be submitted to the committee by mid-January.

In April 2007, the Sears Island Planning Initiative, a process that included state agencies, the town of Searsport, transportation and industrial interests, conservation organizations, and interested citizens, completed a “Consensus Agreement,” which determined that the appropriate uses for Sears Island are compatibly managed marine-transportation, recreational, educational, and conservation uses.  To provide for these uses, the agreement states that the island will be divided into two areas—a 341-acre area dedicated to potential marine port uses and a 600-acre portion dedicated to recreational, educational, and conservation uses.

To implement the Consensus Agreement, Governor John E. Baldacci established the Joint Use Planning Committee.  The committee has been tasked to determine the location of the 341- and 600-acre areas.  In addition, the committee will draft a conservation easement on the 600-acre area of the island, which will continue to be under the jurisdiction of the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT).  The easement is to be held by an independent organization.  The JUPC is inviting responses from organizations that are qualified to hold conservation easements and willing to participate in the drafting of the easement. The organization selected will ultimately act as the holder of the easement.

The agreement calls for an easement of 600 acres that will be set aside for light recreational, educational, and conservation facilities and uses.  It also reserves 341 acres on the west side of the island for potential port development.  The JUPC will be charged with delineating the precise boundaries of those two areas and drafting buffer easement language that references a baseline natural resource inventory.

Organizations interested in holding this easement should send a letter expressing their interest and a statement of their qualifications to Duane Scott; Maine Department of Transportation; 16 State House Station; Augusta, ME 04333-0016. The deadline for submission is January 14, 2008.  A representative of each organization that submits a letter and statement is expected to attend the January 18, 2008 meeting of the JUPC, to be held from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Searsport.

Editors:  The text of the Consensus Agreement is available at http://maine.sierraclub.org/Sears%20Island%20Planning%20Initiative.pdf. For more information, contact Duane Scott by telephone at 207-624-3309 or by e-mail at duane.scott@maine.gov.

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