Undue Influence In the North, Part 4
By David P. Cyr
As explained in the previous articles, the elimination of the logging/paper industry and the rural cleansing of Northern Maine have been the focus of the Northern Forest Alliance for the past 50 years.
As the fourth chapter of an 80-chapter list, Maine would be the largest and most complex campaign of its kind in the world. To achieve their goals, it would be necessary to:
- Remove and gain control of the largest private ownership of Paper Company land in the state.
- Remove and gain control over the largest privately owned hydroelectric dam system of its kind in the world.
- Remove the oldest and most entrenched “Camp Culture” in the world.
To the average Joe, these tasks would seem to be virtually impossible, but to the largest, wealthiest and most influential green group on earth, this task was accomplished in the same way as you may answer the question: “How does a single person eat a whole Elephant?” The answer is just as you would expect is: “One bite at a time”.
First, we must understand that our forefathers and the generations to follow have been committing a sin, but you won’t find this one in the Bible. The sin I mention is against “Nature”, as we were cutting trees, and using a renewable resource. Apparently, we had no right to do so. The use of a natural resource, renewable or not, in the eyes of the preservationist, must be stopped.
Now, please understand the difference between the environmental movement of the seventies and the Preservationists agenda of today. The environmental movement I mentioned came to us as an unwelcome guest, as a gift from our Southern Maine Government, in the form of the “Land Use Regulation Commission”. I consider them unwelcome guests because it seems Southern Maine had the good sense not to impose the same regulatory standards upon itself through the use of “Management Classes”.
As insulted as we were back in the seventies to have “the Greens” telling us about the death of “Micro-organisms”, as we rolled rocks over with a bare foot, I believe I am more insulted to hear that I should no longer have the right to be that close to a body of water, anyway.
Environmentalists understand and coordinate man’s contact with his environment. This is necessary for the long-term protection of the environment that also supports man’s existence. L.U.R.C. has set land use standards governing our contact, use and protection of our environment.
Although I do not agree that our land use regulations need to be quite so restrictive, second only to Alaska, there is a definite need to employ good science to maintain the quality of our environment. All of this is common sense, nobody out there believes that we can use our resources and not protect the future of that resource.
In comes the “Preservationist”, with the only goal in view being that of returning the environment back to its original state, before Europeans settled here. The true “Preservationist” believes that beyond the love for their own children exist the need to repair the environment even if that need requires the displacement of families and the up rooting of a complete culture.
This must be done to protect future generations. They often see themselves as true visionaries, actually believing that we will someday thank them for their efforts to make two thirds of a state empty. The success of the preservationist movement has rewarded their instruments with the one thing they all desire - Power. That power in the hands of the politically connected few, feeds the monster, and delivers something that we have all gotten used to Arrogance!
No one out there can understand how difficult it is to be and act as a preservationist. Imagine, if you can, that you can only tell your friends and colleagues about your environmental concerns, when you really do not care about environmental issues, because you truly believe in removing man from the environment will solve those problems. The “Preservationist” has to live and exist on three fronts, all of which are phony.
The first has to act as an environmentalist, because they have just recently been accepted into society, since we have grown accustomed to L.U.R.C. and the accepted science they represent. The second has to collect like-minded allies in this movement, and achieve political power with those connections, thus making it possible to implement future actions. All the while, they are still not able to tell anybody what they are really doing. The third, most controversial and also most rewarding to the preservationist, and also happens to be the most secretive, is culture, population, and industry removal. All the while believing that God has given them the unique power and foresight, to realize that the entire population of Northern Maine must relocate to the south for the greater good of all humanity.
Even if hardship and suffering are required, it is for the greater good. I guess we should be thrilled to be in the presence of such greatness, but the arrogance that travels hand in hand is not tolerable in the mist of a honest, hard working society.
The hard working people in the Sherman/Patten area got their education concerning the “Environmentalist Versus Preservationist” agenda, just last year. The residents of these two small towns are still wondering, what happened? The lumber mill, the single largest employer of the area, fell on hard times and had to sell out. But, there were at least two perspective buyers that were going to buy and run the mill.
Little mention was made of the entity that did purchase the mill, because they had a preservationist agenda and shut it down. The machinery was auctioned off before anyone could blink. When we attended a meeting of about 150 citizens in the Sherman High School earlier this year, we heard several pleas from area residents. They wanted answers, as to why organizations are allowed to exist that work to eliminate industry and people from Northern Maine? Who or what evil would support removing people from their homes and the industry that feeds them?
One local man made his beliefs known when he opened his speech with a very profound statement, “ Know Him Not By His Word, but By His Deed.”
He went on to explain that despite all the promises that came with the recent arrival of the green groups, the resulting loss of the lumber mill shows exactly what they were here to do. While we were talking to area residents, we had the good fortune to meet a trucker who had recently finished a two month long job in Montana.
This man explained how he first learned about the preservationists while trucking in Montana. He said that signs that were posted everywhere, to declare a specific date as “Gate Day”, baffled him. The signs were statewide, Gate Day here, Gate Day there, until finally he asked the patrons of a local nightclub, “What the hell is “Gate Day”?” They explained that “Gate Day” was the day that every citizen with a four-wheel drive or a come-a-long expressed their personal beliefs about having their entire state locked up by the greens, by removing all and any Gates they could find.
Following a short conversation, we learned that we had a lot in common, namely the TNC and the Alliance had also blessed the State of Montana with their preservationist’s agenda.
Almost a year later the preservationists continue to assault the residents of the Sherman/Patten area. On November 2, the voters almost took away another small source of income for this area with the “Bear-Baiting” Question on the ballot.
Let’s not stop there, as closing the Snowsled trail and the remaining green benefits provided by the Roxanne Quimby assault on civilization, will complete the rural cleansing efforts in this area. Why is it proper and legal to remove people and industry from its established location? What politician would support this effort?
Now, it should be known that, in the state of Hawaii, an almost duplicate situation had occurred. It is called the land reform Act of 1967. This case is now referred to as: “Hawaii VS Midkiff”, where a landowner chose to cause pain, suffering and hardship to surrounding abutters and citizens. The Governor, in concert with his legislature, immediately took the land in question by the powers granted to him by “Eminent Domain”, and sold it to the abutters at fair market value, returning the money to the original owner. With that action, swift and fair, others who hope to prosper from the misery of others, received a very powerful message: Don’t do it here!
What message is our Governor sending?
The Hawaii VS Midkiff decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court of this great country, so just exactly what happened to our Governor? It appears that Roxanne Quimbys` actual theft of private property, (which is what happens when the property owner fails to move it in the prescribed time), was made legal by the weak links in our Legislature, and made profitable by the absolute co-operation of our preservationist Governor.
Our Governor made a very clear choice to stand on an issue of great importance to the entire state. Because the Supreme Court up-held the original Hawaii vs. Midkiff decision, in 1984, our Governor would only have to make two phone calls to the Majority leaders of our State House. That would enact emergency legislation to protect the rights of the property owners on leased land, the vacationing public that was previously free to use the trail, and the local industries and small businesses adversely affected by her action to close the trail. The emergency legislation enacted to take the land in question by Eminent Domain, could also include language to include the end of all tax incentives, to those who would choose to inflict misery on Maine’s` citizens, while pursuing their own private agenda.
Our Governor has made a stand on the preservationist side of this very damning issue, combined that with the refusal of the Governors` office to get involved in the planned eviction of the only public service provider in the Katahdin Region, WSYY Radio. Imagine if you were a company from out of state looking to settle here and then learned that our Governors policies towards businesses include:
- Helping radio stations go away;
- Assisting the private closing of a publicly used snowmobile trail;
- Assisting the loss of private property located on leased land;
- Assisting the closing of small businesses located along the closed trail;
- Assisting the over-regulation, over-taxation, and ultimate failure of business in northern Maine;
- Assisting the removal of personal security in leasing agreements; and
- Producing instability in an already unstable real estate market on leased land.
By saying and doing absolutely nothing on these issues, our Governor speaks volumes. Again, I will explain, this is why they cannot tell you what they are doing. The hard working citizens of these small rural towns are not supposed to notice, a missing snow-sled trail, Radio station, or a Bowlin camp or two.
Now, you have to ask yourself, how is it possible for the Governor of a State to stand idly by why the actions of the Preservationists remove all that is necessary to support life in the northern half of the state? Didn’t he take an oath or something?
For the answer we must go back to 1956, when the Nature Conservancy incorporated it’s fourth chapter here in Maine.
When I take a moment to walk in the shoes of the first TNC workers who arrived here, I realize that this State has been their job for five decades. We must realize that as a job, the work has had to be performed in various stages, much the same as anyone would get his wood in to heat his home. First step, sharpen chain saw, last step, feed wood stove, the six steps I have left out are where the real work is.
So when you compare the job the preservationist have undertaken to:
Remove the land, industry, damns and the culture of a half of a state; you have to ask how in the hell can they do this? This task is so massive where do you start?
The best illustration that I have found to date, exist in a small Fish Farming community off the coast of Virginia, called “Willis Wharf”. The 25-year destruction of this community and the 50-year destruction of our state have been achieved by the same means and in the same method.
With a population of only 300, the residents of Willis Wharf relied solely on the pens of the fish farming industry for their livelihood. But they had no idea that they were using and abusing a resource… Water. Six months after the arrival of the “We do good things” people, the local universities, to detect any changes that the fish-farming pens had made in the water quality, performed studies. What do you think they found?
Fish poop.
Big surprise right? The studies were brought to the attention of the states` environmental protection agencies and legislation was immediately passed to stop those fish, clams and all forms of Aquaculture, from pooping in the water and destroying the health of the entire Atlantic Ocean, thank God they caught it in time!
Now the industry has been shut down, people are out of work and in comes the true savior, The Nature Conservancy. Once the value had dropped, because of the shutdown, they purchased all the land with any commercial value and then purchased control over the entire fish-farming industry in the Willis Wharf area and began to “help” the residents of Willis Wharf. We all know how the rest of it goes, The TNC began to help with environmental concerns and proposed new ways to use good science and help get a small portion of the industry back on its` feet. Thus becoming the “Savior” of another small community that is now happy to have 14% of its` income back and has managed to save the environment too.
Before we get warm and fuzzy all over, look around. What really happened here? The small community of Willis Wharf, with 300 plus citizens, was fat and happy. There were no dead Dolphins on the beach, no “Beached Whales” and no evidence of any kind of an immediate or long-term environmental concern. They actually had no problems until the arrival of the “We do good things” people. All of a sudden the health of the entire ocean is in question, and the land and water are more important than the people.
With the end of an industry also comes the drop in property values, and overnight, it seems a whole new society moves in. This society does not seem to mind that the land and water has become more important than people have. In fact, those remaining residents have knuckled under to the green movement, and the imports already think green. So what we have here is a form of Socialism or Communism.
The landowner, (TNC), has a public/private relationship with the Government to allow for a limited amount of Fish-farming. Free enterprise was removed when the TNC bought all the property that would bear any kind of fruit, or fish farm. Therefore the size, financial wealth and growth of Willis Wharf is now under the control of an NGO with the blessings of the government.
The citizens of Willis Wharf can still elect public officials and go through all the motions, but all decisions are made by the NGO. The NGO has already pre-determined what is best for them. Sound familiar?
When you pull up the site you will also discover that they are knee deep into the visioning process, collecting concerned individuals, building committees, sub- committees and getting everybody involved in their own future, despite the fact that their future is already pre-determined by the NGO.
Brascan`s total control of all land for development, with the inclusion of MAGIC and its, “Circle of friends” results in the exclusion of the public. The extreme example exists in the proposed sale of Hammond Ridge to a MAGIC Founder and the recent sale of the Former Bartons Marina to a MAGIC member. While literally dozens of hungry Entrepreneurs, both local and transient have begged for the opportunity to purchase their leases, and actually own land. It is now more than apparent that only a chosen few, (Circle Of Friends), will be allowed to prosper in this area. So, while we will experience managed growth, it has been given a new name, the “Maine Highlands”. Which is just another “buzz” word for “Sustainable Development”.
To bring this point home, we only need to go back to 1967, when the Environmental Improvement Division was the ruling agency, just as the “Wildlands Use Regulation Commission”, was transforming into the “Land Use Regulation Commission” in 1969, and later was officially born on 9/23/71. This date represents the implementation of the States first, and most effective rural cleansing tool of its kind in the world. “LURC”.
Imagine, if you would, that your goal was to force the Northern half of the State to leave or migrate south. You would then need to create a situation where the south is allowed to stay fat and happy, while life in the northern half becomes unbearable. To accomplish this task, it was necessary to:
- Set up “Management Classes”, for the actual discrimination of one lake over another. Under the guise of environmental protection, it is now accepted practice to allow an escavator in the water in Sebago Lake, while a camp owner in the Millinocket area pays a $4,000.00 fine for moving a stove size rock on his beach.
- Once the “Management Class” system is established and the legislative damage is done, include northern Maine participation on the Commission. This effectively, gives the appearance of a balanced rule making body, while completing the rural cleansing of Northern Maine.
- Set up several “Satellite” L.U.R.C. offices to give the appearance of being user friendly, While maintaining the second most restrictive and expensive land use standards in the nation.
- Achieve and maintain the most anti-business climate in the Country, Examples; Highest corp. Tax, Highest State Tax, Highest Health Ins. Cost, Highest Workers` Comp rates, Highest Unemployment taxes, Most cumbersome regulations, and the list goes on.
Now, the politicians are all concerned by our extreme anti-business status. But the standards that were only modestly high in 1994, have steadily increased and have never taken a backwards step since the election of our first “ Nature Conservancy Trustee,” Governor, Angus King. In fact, It took several years to obtain one of the highest comp rates in the nation. The State had to take over the comp system to accomplish this task. In so doing they invented M.E.M.I.C., this State control over a formerly private Insurance system has robbed all Maine business owners of affordable coverage.
My own coverage for $84,000.00 in payroll was $4,100.00 in 1999. The same coverage on the same payroll, climbed to almost $13,000.00 in 2001, All, without a claim or a loss of any kind in fourteen years. That same policy is $28,868.00 today.
When I decided to investigate these costs, I learned that the comp rate is artificially controlled by the maximum allowable court settlement, set by the state. In Maine that maximum is $250,000.00. This gives us a rate of about 14%. In Massachusetts, the max settlement is set at $80,000.00, giving them a rate of about 4%. The State of Massachusetts, has made a conscious decision to promote small business opportunities and sponsor a friendly business climate, within its` borders. The State Of Maine, however, has made a conscious decision to end any attempt of a small business to start up here, and has completed its` goal of accumulating strong financial deterrents towards Business Development in Northern Maine. With the national average for tax burden at 10.1%, Maine has finally achieved a rate of 13.0%, now 22% higher than the national average. Maine is consciously and intentionally taxing its` citizens out of existence.
Following the installation of the States` first “Nature Conservancy Trustee” Governor, Angus King, our leaders have made several decisions affecting the health and well being of our States` economy. These decisions have upgraded our anti-business rating from Number 24, in 1994, to being tops in the country, at Number 50, today. As the decision to install and maintain the 46th highest Comp rate was intentional, I am left to assume that the remaining State controlled deterrents to business are just exactly that, STATE CONTROLLED DETERENTS TO BUSINESS.
For copies of the Data collected from State, Federal and other sources, used in the formation of the above opinion, you only need to pull up Magic City Morning Star, on-line at magic-city-news.com.
- 1924- Governor Percival Baxter uses the powers of Eminent Domain to help Great Northern paper, build a nineteen dam system and in effect creating the strongest, most cost efficient, Paper Company on Earth. This in effect did also create the States` most stable job base.
- 1935- The Wilderness Society is hatched from the Sierra Club.
- 1953- The Nature Conservancy is incorporated.
- 1956- The Nature Conservancy incorporates its` fourth Chapter in Maine.
- 1967- Pictorial evidence, Biologist studies, and university research are gathered for presentation to the one Hundred And Fourth Legislature, for the purpose of creating an extremely restrictive land use regulation body.
- 1969- L.D. 210, An Act to Create the Wildlands Use Regulation Commission, is replaced by new draft, L.D. 1260, and later becomes L.D. 1566.
- 1971- L.D. 1566, L.U.R.C. is born, An Act to create “The Land Use Regulation Commission”.
- 1985- L.U.R.C. demands guaranteed employment levels from Great Northern Nekoosa before they would grant a permit for the construction of the Big “ A” Dam.
- 1989- Georgia Pacific performs “Hostile Takeover” of Great Northern Paper.
- 1991- Bowater and Georgia Pacific swaps spit and divide the assets of GNP.
- 1995- Bowater brings in a new President from Nova Scotia, to run and manage its GNP holdings, Who is later named as Nature Conservancy Trustee.
- 1999- Great Northern Paper Inc. became financially insolvent moments after it was sold Inexcon Maine.
- 2002- Nature Conservancy forges $50M land pact to “help” Great Northern Paper.
- 2003- January 10, GNP seeks bankruptcy protection.
- 2003- November 19, GNP Suit: Illicit money transfer led to insolvency.
David P. Cyr, a lifelong resident of Millinocket, Maine gave up his seat as a member of the Millinocket Planning Board, prior to his election to the Millinocket Town Council. While he retains his seat on the Comprehensive Planning Committee, he also holds a seat on the Board of the Millinocket Historical Society and Katahdin Area Television. Along with his membership in the Maine Leaseholder’s Association and the Fin And Feather Club, he was recently elected to the Steering Committee of the Maine Woods Coalition.