The Nature Conservancy and the Appalachian Mountain Club have 45 days to raise more than $30 million to achieve what they say is an unprecedented land deal for its scope and its terms:  400,000 acres will be placed into conservation, with future development restricted to no more than four percent of that.

"I think Maine, after more than two decades of conservation organizations wanting to put in place large-scale conservation around Moosehead Lake, that finally becomes reality," says Alan Hutchinson, Executive Director of the Forest Society of Maine, the group that will oversee and enforce the terms of the easement on 363,000 acres. 

In addition, nearly 30,000 acres is being acquired outright by the Appalachian Mountain Club.  And the Nature Conservancy is buying another 15,000 acres. Hutchinson can't envision any other scenario in which this much land could become available.  And he says it's not just the amount of acreage that's impressive, it's the terms of the easement.

"This guarantees public access on all those lands.  It guarantees sustainable forestry on all those lands.  It puts road access in place on these lands.  It puts a lynx conservation plan in place on all those lands.  And the list just goes on and on," he says. "It's when you look at this in total is what makes it so remarkable."

Although protected from wide-scale development, the easement will allow the area to remain a working forest.  It also allows for the extraction of water, wind development and gravel mining, something that has alarmed critics.  Hutchinson says most deals carve out areas for the same kinds of activities, they just generally are not included under the easement umbrella.  Rather, they are places near towns that require municipal services -- gravel for road construction, for instance. 

Terms of the easement go into effect beginning October 8th, regardless of a pending appeal to the courts.  In the meantime, Bruce Kidman of the Nature Conservancy says he's confident money for the deal will be forthcoming. "It's a challenge.  We have some funds pledged but we're going to be out talking to our friends and supporters and others who recognize that this is the largest contiguous conservation easement we think in the United States history."

Kidman declined to say how much money has been raised so far.  But he says meeting the fundraising deadline will likely involve securing a loan to cover the cost.  Under the deal, more than 60 lakes and ponds, including more than 163 miles of shoreline and more than 770 miles along rivers and streams, are protected. 

Opponents charge that landowner Plum Creek will profit two ways from the deal:  by selling the land for houselots and by selling land for a conservation easement.  But Kidman says Plum Creek is donating about 96,000 acres toward the deal and has been willing to negotiate the rest at a reasonable price.  The easement stays in effect unless and until an appeal of LURC's decision is granted.