DOCUMENT RESUME Computer-Assisted Community

DOCUMENT RESUME

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TITLE Computer-Assisted Community Planning and Decision Making. INSTITUTION College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME. SPONS AGENCY Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 1994-00-00 NOTE 68p. CONTRACT P116B10302-93 PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Community Involvement; *Community Planning; *Computer Software; Cooperative Programs; Curriculum Development; Decision Making; *Ecological Factors; Experiential Learning; Geography; Higher Education; Systems Approach; Work Experience IDENTIFIERS College of the Atlantic ME; Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education; *Geographic Information Systems; *Human Ecology; Technology Integration

ABSTRACT The College of the Atlantic (COA) developed a broad-based, interdisciplinary curriculum in ecological policy and community planning and decision-making that incorporates two primary computer-based tools: ARC/INFO Geographic Information System (GIS) and STELLA, a systems-dynamics modeling tool. Students learn how to use and apply these tools through a combination of classroom workshops and experience in real-world settings. Community decision-makers from organizations and towns surrounding the college play an active role in curriculum development and teaching, and students and faculty work side-by-side with these professionals on particular projects. A permanent director was hired for the GIS lab, and the college established a dedicated facility, the Center for Applied Human Ecology (CARE), which serves as resource center for both the college and the community to conduct research workshops and joint planning projects. Other outcomes of the project include: an institution-wide commitment to the application of computers, from systems dynamics modeling to on-line services via the Internet; the addition of two new faculty members; and a rapidly growing interest in COA's approaches to planning from a variety of international directions, with resulting opportunities to build international partnerships with other institutions facing similar problems in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. News articles on the project are appended.(SWC)

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Computer-Assisted Community Planning and Decision Making

College of the Atlantic Center for Applied Human Ecology 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609

Grant Number: P116B10302-93

Project Dates:

Starting Date: October 1, 1991 Ending Date: December 31, 1994 Number of Months: 36 (plus 90 day extension)

Project Directors:

John G.T. Anderson, Ph.D. Richard J. Borden, Ph.D. College of the Atlahtic 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 Telephone: 207-288-5015

FIPSE Program Officer(s): Jay Donohue

Grant Award: Year 1 $57,847 Year 2 $55,144 Year 3 $32500

Total $145,491 All totals reflect yearly adjustments.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research andImprovement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproducedas received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been madeto improve reproduction quality. BEST COPY AVMLAKE Points of view or opinions stated inthis document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy.

2 SUMMARIES

1. Short Abstract

College of the Atlantic has developed a curriculumin ecological planning and decision making incorporating two primary computer-based tools ARC/INFO and STELLA.Students learn the workings and application of these tools through a combinationof classroom workshops and experience in real-world settings. Community decision makers fromorganizations and towns surrounding the college play an active role in curriculum developmentand teaching, and students and faculty work side by side with these professionals onparticular projects.

John G. T. Anderson and Richard J. Borden

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609

Project Title: Computer-Assisted Community Planning and DecisionMaking

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Computer-Assisted Community Planning and Decision Making

College of the Atlantic 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 (207) 288- 5015 Project Directors: Dr. John G. T. Anderson, Professor of Ecology and Human Ecology Dr. Richard J. Borden, Academic Dean

College of the Atlantic is engaged in the development of an integrated programin ecological planning and decision making involving a significant degree of hands-onwork involving individuals and groups beyond the traditional college community. A majorfocus of this program is the application of tools developedin classroom settings to particular problems faced by citizens in late 20th century rural and urban environments.

Prior to the beginning of the FIPSE process the college had alreadybegun to develop a network of community contacts involving a working relationshipwith the four towns and national park with which the college shares Mount Desert Island. Whilethese contacts set the stage for a much greater degree of co-penetration of thecollege and the community into the

1 educational setting, there was still no unifying theme orforce that provided a clear path that students could follow in their education.

The FIPSE grant provided the college with funds toinitiate a relationship with The M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Assisted Negotiation in selectingsoftware tools that could be applied to regional projects in coastal Maine. The purposeof this relationship was two-fold: first to test the applicability of particular software tools to givenprojects, and second to provide a catalyst around which a group of faculty could form a discretecurriculum of studies.

The software selected for the program consisted of the ARC/INFOGeographic Information System (GIS) and STELLA, a systems-dynamics modellingtool. The college already had some experience in the use of ARC/INFO, but STELLA wasentirely unknown to us. Students and faculty from M.I.T. provided valuable advice on programming,applications, and relevant mind- sets needed to utilize a "systems approach" toproblem-solving.

Once a number of faculty and staff had received initialtraining in software applications, we moved into the community, soliciting project proposals from towndecision-makers and officials. Regular meetings were held between students, faculty, andcommunity members, with all persons involved working together onjoint problem solving. This approach has allowed students access to the actual mechanics of governance, andcreated a "living laboratory" environment in our relations with town government.In addition, town planners, select-people, and National Park Service officials were brought in on a regular basis,either as guest-lecturers or as co-teachers of established courses.

Simultaneous to the development of particular projects, a group offaculty began meeting as a "Center for Applied Human Ecology". This group served both as aforum for reviewing projects conducted under the FIPSE grant and also as the focal unit forcurriculum development. After extensive discussions with other faculty, regular meetings with studentsand alumnae, and review of the program of studies taken by alumnus who had gone on to dowork in planning and/or decision-making, the group arrived at a formal curriculum that enhances andformalizes planning and decision making component of the College's general academic program,while maintaining a clear extension of the College's overall mission of HumanEcology education.

Acceptance of GIS as a tool by faculty, students, and the community wasfairly rapid, especially once the College's Graphics Lab wasre-organized and structured under a permanent full-time director. Widespread use of STELLA has taken somewhat longer thanexpected, in part because of the lack of clear community needs for products of the system.Incorporation of STELLA modelling in several existing classes, as well as the developmentof specific classes addressing systems dynamics in a variety of settings seems likely tolower the threshold for this

2 program to achieve its trueusefulness.

Perhaps the most successful outcomeof the FIPSE process has been the coalescing of a distinct group of facultyinterested in environmental planning within the overall college. Anumber of new courses havebeen generated as a result of newly perceived needs,and we have found numerous advantages in theteam-work approach that the project emphasized. Ideas generated in FIPSE discussions have had a profoundaffect on a number and definition of subsequent hirings, and we look forward to seeing theresults in the form of the first "generation" of students trained within the curricular framework that wehave developed.

The general consensus of participants in the project isthat with appropriate background, computer tools can play an important partin both an academic curriculum and real-world problem solving. The mixture of classroom trainingand hands on exposure to forms of governance is invaluable, especially asit serves to highlight both the strengths and the weaknesses of a particular approach to a given problem.

An important secondary gain from this project hasbeen a clarification of the College's goals and programs for international and sustainable developmentstudies. These ideas have found substantial additional support, academically and financially,and represent a major new direction for the institution since the commencement of this project.

5 A: PROJECT OVERVIEW

This project was an outgrowth of a network of on-going relationships betweenCollege of the Atlantic and its surrounding communities. Ever since the college opened in 1972, there has been a conscious effort to try to incorporate aspects of our immediate surroundings in the academic program. This has produced many different initiatives which include projects in science, teacher education, architectural design, and public policy.

A focal element in these initiatives has been the idea of providing studentswith direct hands-on experience in real-world settings. The intent has been from the first to encourage a high degree of integration between coursework and actual practice, in which students would be working side by side with active professionals in addressing practical problems. In this we have attempted to blur the traditional separation between "academic" and "non-academic" portions of a student's learning experience, and in so doing, better prepare them for the world following graduation.

A significant advantage in this approach has been a network of cooperative agreements between the College, Acadia National Park, and the four towns on Mount Desert Island, where the college is located. Professionals and decision-makers from the region have appeared as guest lecturers, student project sponsors, and in some cases have taught or co-taught entire courses. In turn, faculty and students have served as consultants and collaborators on town and park- related projects.

In the mid 1980's, the college received funds to purchase a single geographical information systems (GIS) work station and plotter. lAs students learned the basics of digital mappingthey began to look for opportunities to apply their skills to real-life projects. At the same time the neighboring towns were faced with a state mandate to develop comprehensive land use plans and an ever-present necessity of updating zoning and tax maps. In addition, the National Park Service (NPS) was anxious to develop its own access to GIS capabilities, and was also interested in collaboration with the communities adjacent to the park on a variety of zoning and land-use issues.

Initial cooperative agreements between the college, the towns, and the NPS permitted the development of basic data layers incorporating road networks, topography, hydrology, etc. Once these data were in place, there was general agreement that the GIS methodology was also a very efficient and flexible way to examine the long term consequencesof different planning assumptions. For example, when local officials were shown a "build out" scenario based on a two acre subdivision rule they were immediately shocked into reexamining their fundamental approach to land use planning

4 Although our approach appeared highlypromising, growth was uneven in a variety of areas, and we recognized the needfor both reorganization and a specific focus on theacademic program. Both student and community demand forGIS services exceeded the time available to existing faculty, and the development of newtechnologies, while promising in and of themselves, involved a further drain of available resources. It wasunder these circumstances that we applied to the FIPSE program for funding.

During the three years of FIPSE support, the collegehas developed a broad-based interdisciplinary program in ecological policy andcommunity planning. There has been a substantial improvement in the scope and qualityof work in COA's GIS lab including hiring of a permanent director.The college has also established a dedicated facility,the Center for Applied Human Ecology (CAHE), which serves as a resource centerfor both the college and the community to conduct research workshopsand joint planning projects.

Other important features that have come out ofplanning initiated and implemented through the FIPSE project include: (1) an institution-widecommitment to the application of computers in a variety of areas --- from systems dynamicsmodeling to on-line services via the Internet (2) the addition of two new faculty members in the areasof environmental economics and political economics to support a multidisciplinary program insustainable economic development; and (3) a rapidly growing interest in COA's approaches toplanning from a variety of international directions.It is this last dimension that has been especiallygratifying. Our original aim was primarily to develop capabilities to work collaboratively onregional issues of the Maine coast. However, because of the professional networks of theproject team members, the model we developed has captured the attention of colleagueselsewhere. This has given us special opportunities to build international partnerships with otherinstitutions facing similar problems in Latin America, the Caribbean and in Asia.

B. PURPOSE

Community leaders and citizens in the late 20th century arefaced with the demands of rapid decision making on increasingly complex and far-reachingdevelopment issues. Decisions that might once have had strictly local consequences nowreach across town borders and impact people who have had no say in the decisions thataffect them.

We believe that educators have a primary responsibilityin the democratic process. However, a disadvantage of traditional forms of education dealing withthe democratic process and decision making has been the separation of the academic andpractical components. At the same time,

5 we find ourselves on the thresholdof new technologies for assembling and communicating vital information for planning and decision-making purposes.

Academics all too often distance themselves from the practical implication of their work. Even when teachers are actively involved with "real-world" projects there may be a strong pedagogical incentive to keep the details of on-going work separate from the classroom setting. Planning and decision-making is often confusing and at some levels arbitrary, and it may be easier to teach idealized case-studies rather than acknowledging the less straight-forward nature of reality.

The objective of this project was to develop at College of the Atlantic an expanded student- centered curriculum in planning and decision making, based on hands-on experience with real world situations and incorporating state-of-the-art software tools. Our initial proposal to the Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education (FIPSE) was to provide support to develop computer assisted community planning and decision making on Mount Desert Island, and to use this practical opportunity as the center piece for an innovative interdisciplinary educational program.

At the heart of the program was refinement of existing cooperative arrangements with the communities immediately adjacent to the college, and extension of collaborative opportunities to other geographic areas, including possible international components. We also wished to expand beyond our GIS-centered approach to computer-assisted planning by developing links with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and evaluating software in use at that institution in our own program.

Over the course of the grant period, we have achieved the broad intentions of the project, although there have been some modifications in timing and details. As we noted in our Year 1 and Year 2 progress reports, we experienced some difficulty initially in filling the position of director of the computer lab. The person who was finally hired is very well trained in geographical information systems, and we have since made unanticipated progress in the expansion of these tools in several new areas. The reliance on a temporary part-time personnel to establish our systems dynamics modeling component also produced irregular progress and delayed early developments in these areas. However, the recent appointment of a full time mathematician who has gone through STELLA training now promises to bring these objectives back in line.

The administrative pitfalls of the project seem to be related to it's broad mandate. The academic calendar does not always fit the actualities of local events, and the coming and going of students through graduation and/or term breaks can leave some projects unattended or

6 incomplete. Similar difficulties also arose when even moderate-sized groupsof faculty, students, and townspeople --- each operating on their own schedules ---tried to find workable meeting times. Added to this is the loss of critical participation as key facultymembers rotate through their sabbatical schedules. Taken together, these problems have notdegraded the quality of the overall program, but they have slowed it down and made us emphasizecertain aspects more than others. For the most part, local professionals have been very understandingof these limitations. In conclusion, the best way to have avoided these obstacles mighthave been through less ambitious expectations about specific timing. Aside from these variations in sequencing, the overall project has been a substantial success for the college.

C. BACKGROUND AND ORIGINS

College of the Atlantic was founded in 1969 as a private liberal arts college with aneducational mission focused on social and environmental problem-solving. Organized around a non- departmentalized interdisciplinary faculty, the college offers a single baccalaureate degree, the Bachelor or Arts in Human Ecology, and a Master's of Philosophy in Human Ecology. While the term "human ecology" has been a source of on-going discussion and refinement overthe years, it is generally understood as the study of thecomplex relationships between humans and their natural, social and technological environments. As a unifying perspective for combining the ecological sciences and human studies, it has given students a practical frameworkfor individualized and problem-centered liberal studies. COA students have made use of their interdisciplinary studies in many ways --- from entry level positions in environmental, business and community service careers, to preparation for a wide variety of advanced studies.

A fundamental goal of the college since it's founding has been the development of highly educated and motivated citizens, capable of affecting change at local, regional, national, and international levels. From the outset, an important component of the college's philosophy has been the idea of self governance. Students serve as voting members of all administrative committees, and policy decisions are brought to an all college meeting -- modeled on the New England town meeting -- for debate and discussion. Students are thus made aware from their first days at the college of the importance of participation and of the need for collaborative rather than adversarial approaches in settling issues. In addition, courses are deliberately designed to relate wherever possible to current issues in all fields, in order to reduce the separation. of "academic" issues from the landscape of the "real world".

The college is located on Mount Desert Island, an 80,000 acre island in eastern Mainethat is connected to the mainland by a two-lane causeway. Approximately 45% of the island istaken up by Acadia National Park, the smallest and second mostvisited park under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. The remainder of the island is governed by four separate towns,

7 each of which has its own particular endas and attitudes towards collaborative planning. The local economy is highly seasonal, wits over2 million visitors to the island in the summer and virtually none in the winter. This skewin visitation places a severe load on community services, which must provide for the summer gauzeout of a tax base consisting of only a few thousand property owners.

Prior to the beginning of the FIPSE programthe college had served as "honest broker" in a number of intra and inter-town and town/parkprojects, but these had occurred on a somewhat ad hoc basis, and were not necessarilytied into the college curriculum. Concern about increased development for the highly seasonal touristtrade on the one hand, and loss of a taxable land- base to the National Park, on the other,had resulted in widespread concerns.

The primary academic purpose of theFIPSE project was the development of a focused program in Community Planning and DecisionMaking. At the core of this new program, a sequence of courses dealing with ecology,decision snaking, government, and appliedtechnologies was proposed. Some of the courses werealready in place, but they lacked the thematic integrity to provide a coordinated curriculum of gludy.

The college was also developing a computergraphics lab containing an ARC/INFO Geographical Information System (M)and ERDAS image analysis software. The lab was staffed by one part-time administrator and arotating group of two to four students. Courses in GIS had traditionally been taught as anover-load by a faculty member in Zoology. At the beginning of the project the software andhardware in the lab were used by a limited number of faculty and students, and we clearly lackedsufficient personnel to take full advantage of the facility. Through the use the FIPSE vpport, weproposed to both broaden the use of computers within the college and toconduct an active outreach into the community to provide a more interactive service.

The project consisted of a three-prongedeffort. First, we wanted to develop a firmly grounded interdisciplinary program in CommunityPlanning and Decision-making. Second, we needed to enhance and professionalize our computercapabilities in computer-assisted planning. And third, we wanted to expand and enrich the two-wayflow between the college and surrounding communities and to experiment with a rangeof collaborative methodologies. Overall, the project required strengthening in each ofthese components and at the same time an integration of them.

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10 D. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1. Curriculum Development

The project's goal to develop a more formalizedcurriculum in Community Planning and Decision-making under the rubric of Human Ecology represented asignificant philosophical shift --- from the College's traditional almostfully-open attitude towards degree requirements -- - to a morestructured program. Given our commitment to a student-centeredapproach to education we were determined to maintain a high degreeof flexibility in course planning while at the same time ensuring a maximallevel of core knowledge.

Our hope is that a student taking this curriculum willdevelop a solid background in science, law, design/aesthetics, political science, andeconomics. In addition, they will be able to express themselves in speech and writing. Such graduates will beready to work in a non-profit organization or go to an applied graduate program such asthe Yale School of Forestry.

Classes have been divided into three basic groups: foundationalmaterial essential to all students interested in applying Human Ecology regardless of theireventual focus, intermediate courses that advanced seminars and practica that allow the students tosharpen particular skills and to apply the "toolbox of ideas" that the earlier courses havegiven them.

A general outline of the program that has developed is asfollows:

Ecological Planning & Policy Program Recommended Course Sequence

I. Foundations: foundational material essential to allstudents interested in applying Human Ecology regardless of their eventual focus

Human Ecology Core Course Writing Seminar I and II or demonstrated competency in collegelevel writing Statistics Biology I & II Chemistry I Ecology or Ecology: Natural History or Marine Biology Foundations: Intro. to Visual and Environmental Studies Two-Dimensional Design Intro. to the Legal Process or Philosophy of the Constitution Intro. to Economics

9 II. Intermediate: courses that begin to direct studentstowards particular areas of interest

History of American Reform Movements orEnvironmental History or Roots of the Modern World Presentation Skills or Technical Writing Community Planning and Decision Making or Political Theory andEcology or Resource Economics An upper level science course e.g. Animal Behavior or PlantSystematic or Plant Taxonomy or Evolution or Morphology andDiversity of Plants or Woody Plants or Fisheries Biology or Ornithology or Herpetology or Mamma logy or Bio-organicChemistry or Water Quality on Long Pond Architecture or Landscape Architecture GIS or Environmental Journalism Environmental Psychology or Personality and Social Development Land Use Planning Studio or Environmental Law and Policy Historical Geography or Cultural Ecology of the Maine Wood ProductsIndustry or Cultural Ecology of the Maine Fishing Industry

III. Advanced: seminars and practica that allow the students to sharpenparticular skills and to apply the "toolbox of ideas" that the earlier courses have given them

Legal Aspects of Land Use or Advanced Land-use Seminar Whitewater/ White Paper or Use and Abuse of Public Lands or International Environmental Law or Wildlife Law Seminar Conservation of Endangered Species Advanced Political Economy or Community Economic Development Ecological and Economic Systems and Carrying Capacity GIS II or Systems Dynamic Modelling with STELLA

Students will complete their program with a series of electives dealing with particular areasof interest. They also will complete a required internship with an organization or government agency working in planning and decision-making,and a Senior Project that demonstrates the students mastery of the skills gained over the course of their undergraduate programand integrates their overall knowledge-base with the concept of Human Ecology.

A more complete description of the rationale and goals for these courses, aswell as details of course descriptions, course sequencing, andteam-teaching arrangements have been incorporated into the two previous annual reports. Like all COA degree plans, many ofthe decisions about

.direction and emphasis are worked out in on-going student advising teammeetings.

12 Initial models of the curriculum essentially usedthe metaphor of a tree --- a thick central "trunk" of courses with a network of "branches"consisting of electives or alternatives that met individual needs. It became clear over the span ofthe FIPSE process that this model was too constricting and failed to give students enough depth once theyhad decided on a particular direction.By the conclusion of the project we found ourselves morecomfortable with the idea of the curriculum as a perennial shrub: a solid root-stockof core courses containing basic information, and then a number of independent "shoots" or "runners"that students could follow to greater specialization in one aspectof planning and decision-making. The Senior Project under this metaphor becomes the "flower" at the end ofthe shoot.

2. Computer Tools

The second major goal was to develop a set of powerful computertools for participatory planning. Work with faculty and students at M.I.T.during the course of the grant made it clear that it would be best to focus our efforts on a limited numberof computer software tools. The learning curve implied by many of the available systems and thehighly specialized nature of particular packages rendered them unsuitable for our course structure.

After detailed discussions we agreed to focus on two central systems tobe thoroughly expanded within the College's interdisciplinary program: ESRI's ARC/INFOGeographic Information System (GIS) which we already had in place, and STELLA, asystems-dynamics modeling tool. ARC/INFO required only a greater degree of organization and coordination tobe incorporated more fully into the program.Provision of a dedicated lab director led to both standardized data development --- ensuring increased confidence in the system and greater useby the community, and also enhanced curricula offerings in the form of formal classes andindependent studies, tutorials, and project sponsorship. The expansion of the director's rolealso freed other faculty to develop additional courses and to work in a varietyof teams with the director.

A. Geographical Information Systems

Prior to the FIPSE project, the GIS lab was a student-centered facilitywith one course per year taught by Professor Anderson, supporting a variety of student and facultyresearch projects. The main problems were a lack of year-round lab management, no permanentfull-time interface between the lab and towns and organizations with whom the college wasworking, and no long-term resources forcontinued training of students.

In January, 1992 a half-time lab director was appointed to address theseissues. Additional equipment was acquired through a Title III grant to increase the number of PCwork stations to six. Lab equipment has been continually upgraded to maintain a hightechnological standard.

11 All lab PCs are now 486 systems, and arenetworked to the Sun work-station and to the College's computer network. Additional grant moneyhas been received to allow upgrade of the lab's pen plotter to a high resolution ink-jetplotter, and to add four UNIX work-stations. In 1993 the college added GPS capability to thelab with acquisition of a Trimble GPS base station and mobile recording unit.

An introductory course was taught in the 1992-93academic year, and two courses (an Introductory and an Applications course) have been taughtin subsequent years. Several students pursued independent studies to gain theequivalent training and experience, others have conducted senior projects and we have alreadyhad one graduate student complete his M. Phil, degree in the lab.

A team of trained students worked on a varietyof projects during the academic year, and as employees during the summer, enabling the GIS lab toprovide an increased level of services and consulting to area towns and agencies.

In January, 1994 the GIS lab director's position wasupgraded to full time and we were able to hire a recent graduate of the University of PennsylvaniaGraduate Program in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, trained under the directionof Ian McHarg. Through this appointment we have been able to increase the number of coursestaught in the lab and the range and quality of student,faculty and community projects.

The lab has developed a highly detailed model of Mt. DesertIsland which is an exceptionally valuable resource for education, technical training, decisionmaking and community service. This data model is the most diverse GIS developed for anyregion thus far in Maine and includes information on Bedrock Geology, Surficial Geology,Hydrology, Topography, Vegetation, Land Use, Tax Parcels, Structures, Utilities, Zoning,National Wetlands Inventory, Acadia National Park Boundaries, Roads, Carriage Roads andTrails, Conservation Easements, Digital Terrain Model, FEMA Flood Zones, Satelliteimagery, Watershed Boundaries.

The GIS Lab was awarded a private foundation grant inDecember, 1994 which will enable us to replace our older pen plotter with a colorink jet plotter. This will modernize our graphic output capabilities and enable us to provide townswith more detailed, readable, high quality maps. This grant has alsoprovided for four UNIX workstation terminals to upgrade several PC seats to the UNIX environment. This willprovide access to much greater computing power, sophisticated GIS software, graphic development and productivity.Additional capabilities include viewshed and watershed modeling and work with satelliteand other types of imagery.

14 The GIS Lab is connected to the rest of the campusvia a campus wide computer network which provides E-mail and other services. Thishas connected the GIS Lab and Graphic Design Studio, which are adjacent to each other,electronically, creating a network of SUN UNIX, Apple and DOS PC based computers.

GIS in the Academic Curriculum

In our initial grant proposal we suggested thedevelopment of in-house interfaces for the GIS using ESRI's Simple Macro Language (SML) as ascripting process. Although we did generate a number of SML macroscripts that greatly enhanced data development tasks, it soonbecame clear that the pace of technology was outstripping us.ESRI developed Arc View 1 providing a major step forward in user accessibility for GIS data, and we wereable to take advmatage of this program to move the GIS into abroader community without relying on campus-based programming.

The release of ArcView2 further enhanced this processby allowing greater functionality and flexibility in both data presentation and analysis. As aresult GIS can be used more easily and more often in course work, andis much more readily available to the general public withonly a short period of familiarization. The director of the labhas embarked on a series of training sessions in ArcView2 for faculty and community plannerswith very encouraging results. More training is being planned for the future.

Primary areas of focus remain on landuse planning andsustainable development, conservation biology and marine mammal and seabird research. Theseparticular areas are expanding the scope of factors considered inthe GIS. Students continue to be the key to our GIS program, often serving as innovators or facilitators to new ideas andpeople. The most successful and beneficial class projects to date have been those where studentshave worked on projects addressing real issues on the island.

B. System Modeling

At the beginning of the project, the college established acooperative arrangement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Project on Modelingfor Negotiation Management. The purpose of this arrangement was to foster directinteraction between students and faculty at College of the Atlantic, MIT and localcitizens and officials who agreed to participate. We were able to successfully apply aSystems Dynamics software to a number of local issues and to incorporate the software into the college'scurriculum.

13 Implementation of STELLA was somewhat more problematical thanGIS, given that nobody on campus was familiar with the program atthe start of the grant. FIPSE-sponsored training sessions allowed faculty and staff members to develop a degree ofexpertise in both the program itself and underlying concepts in systems dynamicsRather than simply focusing on one or two "techniques" courses, we have endeavored to incorporate use of STELLA into an arrayof more general classwork, ranging from ecology and planning to mathematics.Students are thus exposed to the "systems approach" from a number of perspectives.

As with other areas of the curriculum we focused on practicalapplication of techniques to real- world problems. For example, an extremely controversial issue of sewer userfees in the Town of Mount Desert became the major focus of one of our joint efforts. MichaelToole, a Ph.D candidate from MIT, along with COA faculty and students, worked withcitizens representing dynamically opposed views to create mutually acceptable models of alternativefee structures for the town sewer. Through these models we were able to predict theimplications of various methods of shifting the burden of sewer system costs from property tax base to userfees. While the models themselves were sufficiently complex to make their actual constructiondaunting for citizens, they were able to agree upon each of the various components andmethodologies. However, a sudden shift of elected officials on the town's Board of Selectmenresulted in the tabling of this issue for the foreseeable future.

Another MIT graduate student Greg Howland, taught a course in System Dynamics atCOA where students applied STELLA to a range of diverse issues. Several of theseprojects were quite successful and elicited substantial interest from the Town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. One was a study of potential effects on the harbor of the dramaticallyincreasing cruise ship use. The town has been considering dredging a channel to allow dockingof cruise ships at the town pier. How this will impact the local fishermen andrecreational boaters is not clear and the model revealed some surprising possibilities. The town isinterested in pursuing this model further before any decisions are made on the dredging. Another studentconstructed a model which attempted to predict andanalyze the various tax implications of conservation easements. The Park Service is interested in further development ofthis model and feels it could help them in numerous situations throughout the park system.

Several COA faculty members and students were trained by High PerformanceSystems in Cambridge to use the systems dynamics modeling software and it has been incorporatedinto a variety of ongoing courses. Dr. Anderson used the software in his Ecology class todemonstrate a systems approach to ecosystems and toillustrate some of the inherent weaknesses in this philosophic model. Dr. Donald Cass, a chemistry professor, is using STELLA to model water quality and hydrology on a major lake which is a water supply for one town but issubstantially

14 surrounded by another town and the national park. A new faculty member, Dr. Martha Dickinson, a mathematician and physicist, now offers a full course in systems dynamics using the STELLA software. Her students are applying the software to a diverse range of projects. These include populations studies, predator-prey models, the depletion of the cod fisheries off the coast of Maine, the effects of drought resistance to the biodiversity of plants within a region, the effect of fertilizer on the symbiotic relationship between potatoes and fungus, modeling of air pollution in the park, and the spread of the AIDS epidemic.

As we continue to work with the towns in development of their comprehensive plans, other complex issues are sure to arise which lend themselves to these STELLA modeling techniques determine the potential outcome of interdependent systems. More students are being instructed in the use of the software and will hopefully be able to bring that knowledge to bear on the problems we address in our Advanced Land Use Planning classes.

3. Center for Applied Human Ecology: College - Community Relations

Early in the FIPSE process we identified a group of existing faculty that would be interested in the outcome of a coordinated effort to incorporate planning and decision making into the curriculum. After negotiations with the college administration we secured a dedicated space that could be used for meetings and would house a set of archives relating to college/community projects. We hired part-time secretarial help that allowed us to assemble both a computerized database of existing publications on planning and decision making, and a resource library of the most relevant documents and publications.

The Center for Applied Human Ecology rapidly became a key element in the development of further college/community relations. Regular meetings were held between faculty and students interested in the overall project theme, and between college and townspeople interested in particular projects. Examples of some of these projects have been included in our previous annual reports.

At the conclusion of the grant it became apparent that the Center had created a very real sub- discipline within the College's overall commitment to Human Ecology, and faculty and students agreed that it should become a permanent element of the college environment. Meetings alternate between business sessions dealing with the specifics of on-going work, and more abstract or theoretical discussions of books, articles, or particular news items.

15 17 E. EVALUATION/PROJECT RESULTS

The intended audience for the project was quitediverse, ranging from students and faculty at the college to a wide array of community members.Each group had particular background strengths and weaknesses that affected the overall outcome. Onesignificant conclusion that can be drawn from our experience is that computer-basedlearning tools are an effective way of drawing individuals from a multitude of backgrounds into the process.Graphical displays are eye-catching and intrigue even the casual observer. At the same time, wefound that the learning curve for even the most straight-forward programs aredauntingly steep to many would- be users.

In spite of the apparent ubiquity of computers in everyday life mostpeople seem to have an inherent reluctance to work with the machineObservations suggested that this reluctance was not correlated with educational background orauthority, faculty members at the college were in many cases as reluctant to"tinker" with the equipment as select people with little or no higher education. Immediate gratification was extremely important in gaining user involvement.If "something happened" with only a minimal number of keypresses or mouse-clicks, thenthe user is more likely to continue the process. Telling an audience that "you cando that but it will take work" or "it will take a number of steps" seems to be a sure way of losinginterest.

This was most apparent with STELLA exercises involving the general public.Participants were initially intrigued by the graphic nature of STELLA programming, but they soon grew impatient with the logic required, and systems involving more than 4-6 steps rapidly led toconfusion and frustration. There appeared to be a critical threshold of complexity, after which peopletended to "switch off' and stop attempting to follow furtherdiscussion. More work is needed in order to better define this threshold and to develop appropriate strategiesfor mitigating the resulting confusion.

Evaluation of curricular activities took place on a continual basis throughout the project as outlined in the original evaluation plan. All courses offered under the developing curriculum were systematically reviewed and evaluated asthey were offered within a four tiered process:

1. Each course was reviewed in mid-term class discussions by students and faculty.Visiting Courses were peer reviewed by all members of Academic Affairs Committee at mid-term.

2. Individual course evaluations were written by all students at the completion of each course. These evaluations were reviewedby members of the core team, the Academic Dean, the Administrative Dean, and the Academic Affairs Committee. Whenever any concerns or recommendations arose, they werenoted and appropriate adjustments were

16 recommended and adopted. Overall, student reactions have been verypositive, and this attitude is reflected in the growing enrollments in projectrelated courses.

3. The project as a whole was continuously monitoredby the project personnel. These evaluations took place in the weekly meetings of the Center forApplied Human Ecology, and were discussed on a term-by-term basis in the Faculty Meeting ---involving the whole faculty of the college. Assessment of the external dimensionsof the project was monitored by the project personnel with major community relationsresponsibilities (Mancinelli, Cline, Allen, Longsworth). This process relies on direct assessment ofcommunity projects in face- to-face meetings with colleagues in the community.

4. Final review and evaluation was conducted by the AcademicPolicy Committee of the Board of Trustees. Updates of the project have been made at quarterlymeetings of the Board, and several presentations of selected aspects of the projecthave been presented on their agenda.

Based on the overall evaluation of the program, the FIPSE project wasincorporated into the college's long range plan to further regional involvement across the curriculumand to use this academic model as the basic template for building the institution'sinternational programs. These decisions were facilitated by the very high degree of visibilitysurrounding the project from the beginning. Newspapers in the region regularly reported on manyof the college- community collaborations and on several occasions the project appeared in national publications.

The general collaborative approach inherent in this project was also utilized bythe college in the creation of a state wide ecological - economics initiative (ECO/ECO Forum),which has brought together heads of businesses, environmental organizations and regulatoryagencies. This highly successful venture has brought a great deal of attention and credit to theCollege.

All members of the project team have been very active in dissemination activities.Progress and research reports based on the project have been presented at the Sixth andSeventh International Conferences of the Society of Human Ecology (Utah and Michigan) and atthe Fourth World Academic Conference of Human Ecology in Mexico. Papers presented atthese meetings have all been published.

The products of the computer lab are constantly on display to visitors at thecollege, and are regularly featured to visitors and in the Northeastern Environmental Studies ProgramDirectors' meeting held at COA in Spring of 1993.

18 The Town Planner of Bar Harbor --- who has played an important role in FIPSE-related activities --- asked COA to host the Northern New England meeting of the American Planning Association on campus as a way of recognizing our achievements and giving demonstrations.

Other significant dissemination steps include: presentation of graduate student Scott Dickerson's Master's thesis at the National Conference of the Land Trust Alliance; the donation and installation of a GIS system at the Multiversidad Franciscana de America Latina in Montevideo, Uruguay by the project director, John Anderson and COA student Becky Aubrey; the teaching of a course on GIS applications at the Multiversidad; invited presentations at the Chinese Academy of Sciences by Richard Borden, project co-director; and joint presentations by Isabel Mancinelli, Richard Borden and Paul Haute', superintendent of Acadia National Park, in response tospecial invitation from the government of Trinidad. A summary of the project has appeared as a chapter in a recent book, Pathways to Human Ecology, published by Lang Press: Bern, Switzerland and other articles written by project managers have been translated into Spanish and Chinese and published.

The project thus served not only to crystallize the opportunities within the college and the immediate surrounding community, but also to provide an important symbolic and practical catalyst among statewide, national, and international parties with similar interests and who are facing comparable problems.

F. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Our experience clearly demonstrates that computerized tools for planning and decision making can be utilized effectively both within an academic setting and in the "real-world" environment- -- provided that all parties involved agree onbasic assumptions and ground rules. Within the academic setting the importance of adequate preparation, including a depth of understanding of the complexity of related factors, is essential if the computer tool is not to serve as a distraction, or, in a worst-case scenario, to lend a degree of authenticity to questionable data.

Computer software, especially programs that use graphic metaphors for displaying information, lowers the initial threshold that must be crossed by users wishing to integrate information from a variety of sources. Familiarity, skill, and "comfort" with the tools do not seem to follow any specific curve over time. Rather, individuals seem to reach discrete plateaus in each factor, within which they are willing to say "I know" "I use" "I understand" but beyond which they rapidly retreat into confusion and disenchantment. There is a fine line between 'This is a marvelous tool that allows me to see relationships that I had never been aware of and 'This entire exercise is a waste of time and effort and you can't trust machines anyway".

20 Whereas in any situation there will exist an ultimate condition of information overload and unbearable complexity, techniques exist to reduce the likelihood of this becoming a pathological situation. We feel that adequate preparation, as outlined in the curriculum in Applied Human Ecology (above) is likely to both raise the ultimate plateau of knowledge that students will reach and decrease the likelihood of withdrawal.

Critical elements in successful education and model building (indeed it can be argued that education is model building in its most fundamental form) include knowing what can be safely left out, as well as what must legitimately be kept in. Given the impossibility of including absolutely every factor likely to affect a given situation, it is important to recognize that a degree of probability will ultimately govern any activity. Many people --- including students, faculty, and non-academics --- feel extremely uncomfortable in the presence of uncertainty. Computers provide a pleasant sense of rigor and precision that is highly seductive in the face of an uncertain and changing world. It is extremelyimportant to steer participants past the Scylla of determinism ("this is the only way things can come out") without at the same time wrecking them in the Charybdis of improbability ("Murphy was an optimist, if it can happen this way, however unlikely that may be, it invalidates all our knowledge and we can do nothing"). With sufficient confidence in one's personal knowledge base individuals and groups can navigate through uncertainty to a useful compromise, however this will take time and patience on the part of a teacher or other facilitator.

A final lesson from the project is to beware the solution looking for a problem. Just because a computer can do something does not mean that it ought to. Many of the exercises that we ran with either GIS or STELLA could have been done much more quickly and effectively by hand or through a few minutes of conversation.There is a tendency to allow the tool to become the master of the process, and all discussions may be forced to fit within the framework required by the tool. This ultimately leads to general dissatisfaction with the entire process and a general lack of closure.

Computer tools may be most effective at the beginning and at the end of the process. At the beginning they can generate "talking points" that initiate a discussion of important factors or areas in need of research; and at the end they can provide valuablemechanisms for display and interpretation of conclusions. They cannot, however, run the entire debate. Without sufficient initial preparation and a degree of flexibility throughout, computerized tools can be marginalized or even counter-productive. If, on the other hand, an appropriate application is determined, and participants have the patience to deal with the weaknesses as well as the strengths of the tool, then they can be an extremely valuable asset in decision making.

19 G. APPENDIX

The most valuable assistance that the FIPSE staffprovided was their flexibility and willingness to accept changes in initial timetables and plans asthe project developed. This allowed project staff to truly experiment with different techniques and to adjust the program to meet new or unexpected needs as they developed. We feel that this is a critical element in the encouragement of innovative forms in education. Many projects areundoubtedly only partially formulated at the time of proposal, and faculty and other participants need to beable to maintain the ability to shift emphases and resources in response to needs that may onlybecome apparent as a result of preliminary work.

Future proposals in this area should take into account the prolonged "ramp-up"time needed to initiate any projects involving either personnel beyond the immediate academic environment or high-tech innovations. Combinations of these two factors may lead to frustrating delaysinitially as schedules and process mastery proceed attheir independent paces. Grant directors should build in extra training time both for particular software/hardware elements and simple group- dynamics. Teams should be encouraged to work together on relatively small components of a given project prior to undertaking major and complex tasks. This sort of "pre-conditioning" can ease many of the stresses that project development canotherwise initiate.

In spite of the increasing commonness of computers in both the academic and businessworld, most users are familiar with at best only a handful of programs and commands.Shifting to a new system or software package can be traumatic,and this degree of trauma is by no means limited to naïve users. "Old hands" at computers may be reluctant to experiment with new or different ways of doing something, and additional time may be needed to break them of their habits. Regular assessment of progress and the relevance of techniques to given problems are essential components of any successful project.

2 November 18, 1993 The Bar Harbor Times Page All COAbyapproach David Warren to affordableBAR HARBOR studentsA :pragmatichousing was explore housing options offered in:a presentation by theCollege Advanced of the ' LandAtlantic,Mountuse Use:Seminar as\ TheitMonday..Desert relates term-long Island. toat One group of students study focusedaffordable (inland housirig on surveyed MDI ' preferences;employees-affordability;impact of currenton a their secondwhile land-use' housing a third affordable housing.., examined theregulations on presented 'aneeds-and thatsite-dents,cult affordablyspecificwould to the find. have costplan pricedFor wastofor manyeventually so Amuch majority of the 204 respondents felthousing was diffi-year-round resi- be found off-that housing island.ingproperty costs_ taxes are unaffordable. as twoRespondentsKen Cline, cited who rental taught rates of the reasons hous- appreciated the the seminar and ,receptivenesswithsibilitysurveyed, Isabel of Mancinelli,theyincorporating of respondents. were "To the credit of the interested in the pos- people whoaffordable were hous- Theing Advanced with free Landzone Floating zone subdivisions were ordinances applied.Use Seminar at COA one offeredlength, an alternative which is responsible view to for the great- affordable housing. This developedspecial attention in models given and to model shows cluster zon- sketches,conserving withWARREN as PHOTO classingthemeaning into foundlower the the current thatthe higher pricespace tag.theIn regard to land-use landscape." is relativeresidentialThe to cost,density suitabilityregulations, of the 'conservationoption,wouldhousing.er sitethe be class being.purpose, noThe more presented main, thanwith or a antithetical to the project's five acres, a larg- parent, parcelfor affordable minimum- estsent costs,part,ing an isshould idealbecause in Hulls example not ofCove.The site chosen by the group its proximityexceed to 100 Bar ft. of affordableIt hous- was chosen, in to repre- dustermanyon the theirnatural zoning five- own acre-parent with The area was developed lotsfeatures but shared as possible; driveways on single-familyparcel. homes Shared utili- according to .t a sitesewer,onment,areas, access for road valuablesuch to water,access, as the affordable housing was agricultural laa 2nd ero-possibility for develop-connection to a town and other critical: based lothomes75frontage size ft. Theof would and 10,000 minimum lot be width.should 25 square ft., distance betweenwith a family lotThe driveway feet. Roadnot exceed thatHarborEpiscopalshort is only anddrive at closeness 50%Churchdown capacity. a roadoftoThe aOur seweracross 54-acre parcel of land, which lies a Father, was from the system largeclusterstiesational would green of or homes helpsocialthat couldreduce were area. serve modeled around athe cost. Three as a recre- sion. 23 rm. 'ma All 4116. being 5,000 square ft. 111171 Bty QOPY_AVALKIE 11011111111111111 011 Page B4 The Bar Harbor Times COA creates databasefor Acadia BAR HARBOR Few places have had their natural strategies for natural resources in Acadia National Park." resources studied as intensely as Acadia NationalPark The index is organized by region, species, date, author and other areas in Down East Maine. A computer and other key information. It provides an annotated sum- database cataloging all research articles written about the mary of each of the more than 1,000 research articles natural resources of the area will make the information that have been written on the park, some of which date more readily available. back to the 1800s. Created by College of the Atlantic, the catalogue will Research associates Glen Mittelhauser, Jamien Jacobs be a research tool for researchers and managers. and Linda Gregory, under Greene's direction, spent over "Because Acadia has been the focus of many natural- two years contacting researchers and poring over materi- ists' studies over the past 150 years, the natural history al in libraries at COA, University of Maine and Acadia of Mt. Desert Island may be the best known of any area National Park. of comparable size on the continent," says COA biolo- The database, along with an 800-page bound summary gist Dr. Craig Greene. "But up until now, no comprehen- of references, will be kept at the Acadia National Park sive bibliography of this information has existed." headquarters on MDI. Similar projects are being devel- Greene and three COA graduates developed the oped at other national parks in the United States. database. The accumulated information will serve as a The database is the latest of several projects carried foundation for future inventory and monitoring efforts in out for the National Park Service, North Atlantic Region, the park. by COA under a cooperative agreement between the two "In providing a clear picture of what is known about groups. Other projects have included the reintroduction park resources," the biologist says, "this project will aid of peregrine falcons to the park and the study of rare and in developing the best inventorying and monitoring endangered flora of MDI. Briefs NI BAR HARBOR Gates Center approved The College of the Atlantic has been given the go-ahead to build the Gates Community Center, an 8,300 square foot building that will include a 300-seat auditori- um and faculty offices. On March 19, the Bar Harbor Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the building, ruling the project will have a negligible effect on Eden Street's belea- guered sewer line. Dallas Darland, vice president for development and external affairs , said COA has so far raised $1.25 million of the $1.75 million needed to fund the project. He. said COA is waiting to hear about 'a couple major foundation grants' that could raise the additional $500,000, and that as a BEST COPY AVABLABLE rule the college doesn't break ground for projects until they are completely funded. Millard Dority, the director of building and grounds at the College, says he hopes the college completes at least a frame for the building before next winter. May 21, 1992 The Bar I ,r Times . Page B23 COA volunteersby Laurie Schreiber work landtionits bulletin, advicetrusts. Last andto landowners year,to provide the trust conserva-and assisted local with Maine Heritage Trust wouldcould endanger probably an island.love"Someone to live on withan enough money neysmeant and to otherbe a technicaltrusts."Forrest tool for Dillonattor- is collecting infor- whenacademicfrom they College studiesvolunteered of theto work Atlantic toBAR help recently, HARBOR putMaine their Two students landownerstheirplace properties, "conservation to on retain Mt.a legal Desertownership casements" tool Islandallowing of the onto island.buildmajorthe islands]. There a impact, house are Just oracutting lotyard. building of bigenoughAnd homes therethe room islands [onhas to a twoon,mationing doing to on 20 about the maps,or more,individual's properties taking said photos."The Pryor, we'reinterest. volunteers' workingdepend- hours range from compileconservationspringcalecological,Coast resources," bulletin.Heritage "adequate scenic, initiative," Trust according culturaldata with aon project and itsislands' to "islandhistori- their to usegoodtionsproperty management." onopportunity its but use place and fordevelopment.permanent "hands-onCase said restric- working land for the trust was a trustment,notaren't merely enabled veryCase big."impactsaid him his but toexperience formactualAsked an endanger- why withopinion development the constituted they'dwhatest, we they're like find to out develop,"skills what are "Whentheir While sheor interests whatsaid. someone training skills are, expressesand supervising an inter- vol- islandsstudentsin Frenchman and at thebegan college, and to Penobscot put"WeTim studied them Casetook onbays. islands and adata- study Pat Watson,area of aboutthird-year 300 wouldcertainwouldand aprobably nearbyisland," talk with trust contact Watson the if landowner"Ifthere the thesaid, landowneris trustone. "they and isThey seelooking to protect a coastalespeciallyonsomemajority the matter. development out-of-state Down of the East, islands andwill "It'sthat certainly increase. are thebecome ownedwave out-of- The increasingly of by apparent, Watson,incalareunteers sometomany field can aprojects,cases, work,volunteertake time, thatas ranging with saidneedmay Pryor, Case fromthem.get to cleri- thereandAnd the basestheiropenalways at study skies,COA," mean involved said explained getting both office students. Working Case.out work. under A lotfor the of the trust does not toislandif fortheyget the undera mightflavor two. conservation." forconsider the features"Occasionally,But putting the ofislands thethe "we were did not a fieldall on survey paper don'tcommunityislandtown careowners. owners about is Thesuchand the relationshipthe that habitat." localCase 'island [mainland) cited betweenowners] one small island in ownpointtrust,"tered ofand theworking Pryor actually work. said. independently. They represented") went Watson out on andthe their Case] quickly mas- information,Case.officestown offices looking and looking for to localinformation," Watson"Ifor wentland landowner agreed.aroundtrust said "Ifor did four a lot months of office to whatmaturehabitatfeaturesislands, they forest theresaidmight look Case,or like." is,include not, whether adding bald "what eagle thatthere's kind nests,such ofa statereffecttown.it'sthere.Pleasant outwho onFrom Theof put theBaycharacter magnitude quite themainland "owned planning a substantialwith mayby ofthe standpoint,anyan restnot out-of-home singleaffectof the himrealpublicsaidhis conservation life,"histo policy. "take concentration Case smallA landscapesaid studies, actions his isWatson inwork whiledesigner design with allowssaid Case peo- and "in he will continue with worth,telltectiongovernmentthings you thean who island buildings agenciesowns might the on toislands, have. the see island. whatTax what maps pro- We it's looking at tax maps done by onesurvey. photo about their development."WeCase alsospent participated a Aday photographing in an aerial islands.slands. You can learn a lot in president.ingunteersmuch, to Carolinebut working on an Pryor,island,with theThere theit's trust, different."trust's are accord- currently vice three other vol= stateple'sabstract.ningmore homes.of regionalandthe But world, Ifpublic youCOA issues. wewant pushespolicy needCommunity to look.atpeople totend look tothetoplan- at be lot of islands close to towns have at ; couldwereabout buildinglook conservation." at it alater database, and contactMaine so the peopleCoast trust Heritage Trust's mis- said,criticalleast one could for or the two "pretty habitat." houses. muchEven That the kill canpresence the be of one dog, Case Jonesattorney,in the is library;doing cataloguing a cataloguinglegal project"Alison examples items. with Armstrong Leslieour of is doing a project topractical, the trust." and that's also whatBegin drew at methe beginning ... and go. on 26 sionandto isthe islandsto character SEPTICprotect in particular," "land of Maine, that is accordingits essential coastlinePUMPING to birds,indigenous for example. habitat," frighteningWatson off agreed sea that any development ofeasements.restrictions different BESHerthat examples productappear inof will conservationrestrictions, be a menu COPY AVAOLABLE till the end: then stop. Lewis Carroll Long PondUnacceptable water levels ofBy fecal Kathy Harbour coliform from the northern part of Long quality study Popular swimmingfound holes are sit-at some testing completedLittleer Hadlock Long Ponds,Pond, Somes Seal Cove Pond, and locations Pond, directlyThose who tied havein to thetheir MOUNTnorth water end tapDESERT of ISLAND Of the NEWS Staff facingPondthatWaterment without fecala of healthProgram Human coliform filtering risk." explainedServices' Ancan it "could engineermake Drinking recently bepeo- with the Depart- EchoPonduatedunsafetolected determine Lake. andat thisforthe at Reeb summerswimming.thenorth whether saidsouthern end cannotthe the Sheofdata end Longwater berecom- col- usedof is suchviouslypilingHodgdon agencies information conducted Pond as the Reeb'sonabout national the testslakesother park, pre- workby included com- onstudydrinkwantLong Mount toanyofPond thinkseveral Desertunfiltered in twicePretty freshwaterIslandA water. justbeforeMarsh has completed foundlakes theymay water quality formPondposeple foundsick, potentialcould as at bewaterborne locations tieddangers. toReeb the onviruses numbersaid Long the can oflevel of fecal coli- Julyeachlectedmended andlake, next anotherthat with year. data two in shouldlate testReeb August. periods beconducted col- several tests on Inin able,theShellfishDept. Atlantic. she of MarineCouncil,explained, Resources, and Eventhere College though is notthe of some data is avail- coliformformunacceptablethat at end some was of alsoLong levelstesting identified AnPond. of locations unacceptablefecal at cob one at - level of fecal pollution,canpetpond.camps waste,also Shesituated attribute notexplained juston to the human fecal beavershore waste, and coliform of the additionponds,suredtookable levelstemperature the toand turbiditytesting of sampled fecal for readings,ofcoliform, fortheunaccept- phospho-lakes mea- and Reeb qualitysionsenoughedthe in studyabout overtofollowing make is a trends conductednumber definitive years, in of theand trendsyears. conclu- waterexpand- Imay f alakessouthmiddlelocation clean testedend bill inon ofthe Echo ofthis Long healthsouthern summer Lake, Pond for toward end. andlevelsreceived other The the of correctDicklocatedthe Vander town any around is faultyZanden working Long septic saidMount toPond. identifythis systems AweekDesert shore and Town Manager peratureweek'srouswithinmeeting, levels. MDI profiles. the have acceptableLeague EachacceptableAll of alsothe rangesTowns lakes, falls tem- inshe reported at this cialsstudyemerge,coming Meeting will she Islandwidebe said. scheduledreviewedResults Elected atfor the 7 p.m. up-of Offi- the water quality Towns,summerfecalstudy coliform. interncamps who that conductedAccording take water the to Carolyn Reeb, the for the MDI League of correctionbeenaboutsurveyidentified or 15 willhas faulty was on bealready Echo beingreplaced.systems Lake, Hemade. thatsaid and havea that source a had also been identified Lake,additionMainePond, werefor Eagle to phosphorous. LongJordan Lake, Pond Pond, UpperThe and lakes Bubble and Echo Low-tested this summer, in Disposalvilleoncussed Monday, Fire DistrictStation.at Nov.the meeting. 30,will atThe also the revised be dis- bylaws of the Acadia Somes- 23 Thursday, October 22, 1992 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Bangor Daily News 29 November 18, 1993 The Bar Harbor Times Page All byCOA David Warren BARstudents HARBOR explore housing options A pragmatic useAtlantic,Landofferedapproach as Useit in relatesMonday. a to Seminarpresentation affordable to affordable at byTheCollege housing the term-longhousing Advanced of was the on study focused on land affordability;employeesimpact.ofpreferences;Mount Desert oncurrent while their Island. a second land-use housinga thirdOne examined presentedregulationsgroup needs of and students thea on surveyed MDI dents.cultthatsite- to the affordablyspecificfind. cost For wasplan many priced so for much affordableyear-round Ahousing majority that housing washousing. ofresi- diffi-the 204 respondents felt ingpropertyisland.would costs have taxesare unaffordable.to as eventually two of theRespondents bereasons found hous- off- cited rental rates and surveyed,receptivenesswith Isabel they Mancinelli, of were respondents. interested "ToKenappreciated the Cline, in creditthe pos- whothe of thetaught people the who seminar were The Advanced Land Use Seminar at COA offered an alternative view to affordable housing. This model shows clustE r zon- classmeaningingsibility foundinto ofthe the thatincorporating current higher space landscape."the is relativeresidential affordableIn regard to cost, densityto hous- land-use regulations, the ingwouldhousing.option with free bethe noThe classzone more main, presentedordinances than or fiveFloating parent, for acres, applied. affordable zone parcela larg- subdivisions were one sentestlength, costs, an whichideal should example is responsiblenot exceed ofThe affordable site 100for chosen theft. great-hous- by the group to repre- specialdevelopedmany attentionnatural in models features given and astoThe sketches.possible.consery area was ng with asdeveloped accord.ng to WARREN *10T0 areas,sewer,onathe site accesslower forsuch road affordabletheto as water, access, pricethe possibility tag.connection housingand The other suitabilityfor was to develop- critical a based town of conservationer frontagelotsite size being andof antitheticalpurpose, 10,000 lot width withsquare shouldto athe minimum- feet. project'snot exceed Road thatHarborpart,ing isis because onlyin and Hulls at closeness 50% ofCove. itscapacity. proximityThetoIt wasa 54-acresewer chosen, system toparcel Bar in of land, which lies a clusterstheoncluster tiestheir five- wouldzoning ownof acre-parent homes lots helpwith but were reducesingle-family shared parcel. modeled thedrivew Sham cost. around homes tys utili- Three on a sion.ment, valuable agricultural land, and ero- beinghomes75 ft. The 5,000would minimum squarebe 25 ft., ft.distance with The a driveway family between lot Bkal COPY AVA6LABLE Episcopalshort drive Churchdown a roadof Our across from the Father, was ationallarge green or social that area. could serve as a recre- MI 1 IV -0 ,19ti

Bangor Daily News, April 8, 1993

Heritage Trust, COA to focuson peninsula BLUE HILL Blue Hill Heri- After identifying the key proper- tage Trust has teamed up with Col- ties, the trust will approach land- lege of the Atlantic to work onowners and encourage them to conservation priorities for the Blueconsider conserving the important Hill peninsula. features of their land. The group is Pat Watson, a senior at the Bar equipped to explain to landowners Harbor college, is working underhow to protect their lands and can the supervision of the trust's con- help them in the conservation. sultant, Ben Emory, to identify key For Watson, this undertaking is areas for attention by the trust. his senior project and will com- The conservation group works inplete his academic requirements the towns of Blue Hill, Brook lin,at College of the Atlantic. He is Brooksville, Penobscot, Sedgwickworking on behalf of the trust full and Surry. In those towns, Watson time this spring in lieu of all course will be pinpointing productive work. farm and timberland, good wildlife Anyone having suggestions for habitat, scenic vistas, land acces-areas that should be noted on the sible for outdoor recreation and list of conservation priorities is en- education, land important for pro-couraged to contact any board tecting water supplies, and othermember of Blue Hill Heritage lands critical to the character and Trust or write the trust at P.O. Box culture of the communities. 222, Blue Hill 04614.

BEST COPYMAILABLE

3 APPENDIX G The Bar Harbor Times

February 28, 1991 League of Towns to aid landuse data by LaRue Spiker almost at a glance. Mancinelli said that the Mancinelli said that the maps will be cost will be about $10,000 made available complete for all the natural resources to this area by the National Park Service. MT. DESERT ISLAND Local com- information needed for decision-making prehensive planning committees will be The coding will be applied to computer- except for information on wetlands, given a big lift toward completing the infor- ized maps already available at the College which is still undone. mation they need by a project approved by of the Atlantic, the Maine Coast Heritage The maps at COA are called the Geo- the MDI League of lbwns last week. trust, and soil maps being developed by the graphic Information System. They The action was taken after a presenta- Frenchman Bay Conservancy in coopera- include the shorelands, hydrology, roads, tion of the proposal by Planners Isabel tion with the University of Maine at Orono. boundaries, tax partels and vegetation. Mancinelli of Acadia National Park and The color coding with written descrip- The MCHT maps were derived from a Jon Lockman of Bar Harbor. tion is a kind of quick identification of survey of island resources. They include The project will consist of coding the nature of any given factor at a given information on scenic resources, vistas resource and land use maps already avail- place. It will make the information on the and significant natural cultural resources. able or in process of development so that maps much more accessible to the people In other business the league consulted local planners can answer questions con- using them and can serve as a basis for with a number of resource people con- cerning natural resources and land use zoning decisions. see LEAGUE page Al2

LEAGUE from page A9

ceming problems related to septage dis- vale pumpers. . posal. The resource people included Mt. Desert accepts it at its sewage Steve Page of the Department of Environ- treatment plant. mental Protection; Dana Nelson, Southwest Harbor's treatment plant is Resource Conservation and Develop- not suitable for accepting septage, and the ment; Thomas Merton, Hancock County town needs a better resource than its pre- Planning Commission; and Gerald ICanke sent system. Reed said that Bar Harbor is of the Maine Rural Water Association. interested in exploring cooperativeagree- Page said that as of April 1 all people ments with other towns for septic disposal. who pump septage from privatesystems Reed announced that Bar Harbor Town must be licensed with the point of origin Council is not interested in the tworecy- and point of disposal registered. He said cling proposals submitted by Eastern that there are 90 licensed disposal sites in Maine Recycling (EMR), primarily the state, but 25 percent of the towns cannot because of cost. find suitable sites that are cost-effective. Mt. Desert lbwn Manager Richard He added that spreading the septageon Vander Zanden said that his board of open areas is the most cost-effective and selectmen had been forced to do some is safe if done properly. Sludge fromrethinking on the proposals because of treatment plants and septage are not com- budget problems. patible for such disposal. He suggested EMR Vice President Lee Worcester that the local communities set up a task was present at the meeting. He said that force to study the problems here: he would probably rework the proposals Bar Harbor Town Manager Dana Reed on an item by item basis. He would pre- said his town has recently modified its sent new proposals, which would be a sewage treatment plant so that it can now bare bones program, later. accept septage as well as sewage. The He added that he wishes he has "a better end product is sent to the treatment plantframework with Bar Harbor." The recent BEST COPY AVALASLE in Hulls Cove where it is composted. The decision, he noted, had all been worked material is treated for heavy metals and out without any consultation with him. 0 tested monthly. The end product is good fertilizer and people are free to help themselves at the Hulls Cove site. And see! she stirs! Tremont has a contract with the Winter She startsshe mowsshe seems to feel Harbor system to accept septage from pri- The thrill of life along her keel. --HenryWadsworth Longfellow College of Atlantic Hosts Northeast Environmental Program Directors BAR HARBORThe College of At Saturday's meeting, severalfor the last 10 years. Founding the Atlantic hosted the 1993 North-program directors described howmembers include representatives east Environmental Studies their institutions have been working from established environmental (NEES) program directors' annual with local communities to addressprograms at Brown, Williams, Uni- meeting on April 30 and May 1. environmental problems. Of specialversity of Vermont, Tufts, Yale, Program directors from as far away interest to participants was a report Dartmouth, and College of the At- as Kansas and Washington, D.C., on the successful relationships thatlantic. gathered to discuss environmentalCollege of the Atlantic has estab- Participation in the group has issues in higher education. The con- lished with Mount Desert Islandincreased in recent years as other ference was organized by Academic communities based on cooperative colleges and universities have Dean Richard Borden and Alesia research and Geographic Informa- adopted environmental programs. Maltz, director of advanced studies. tion System (GIS) mapping andCoordinators from newer environ- The theme of this year's meeting planning. mental studies programs, such as was "Colleges Working with Com- The Northeast Environmentalthose at Harvard and Middlebury, munities: Environmental Justice Studies group has been working asattended this year's meeting. Next and Environmental Poverty." The an informal exchange networkyear's conference will be held at keynote speaker at Friday's dinner among higher education programs Colby College. was Dr. Beverly Paigen, a senior scientist at The Jackson Laboratory and a founder of Citizens' Clearing- house for Hazardous Waste (CCHW). In her talk, Dr. Paigen recounted her experiences as a faculty member and master at Rachel Carson College at SUNY Buffalo. She and her students were instrumental in discovering and documenting the Love Canal site. Dr. Paigen described the environmental hazards that the industrial dumping in Love Canal posed to the children living in the area. She also condemned social and environmental scientists many of whom are university- basedwho have cooperated with industry and corporations to identify areas where the residents are poor and uneducated and are thought by the companies to be less likely to object to dumping. At the end of her presentation, Dr. Paigen received a standing ovation.

THE ELLSWORTH AMERICAN, ELLSWORTH, MAINE 04605

Thursday, May 13, 1993

BEST COPY AVALABLE 3 SPECIAL REPORT MAINE WEEKENDBangor Daily News, Sat.-Sun., May 16-17, 1992 9 When B&A bought property it wanted SearsIslandaspark By Wayne E. Reilly Of the NEWS Staff Franklin Cram's plans for Sears Is- land oddly coincided with Kenneth Cline's 90 years later with one important exception Cram wanted to make a profit. Cram was president of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad. Cline is president of the Maine Group of the Sierra Club. Today the interests of the B&A, which has been an active supporter of the 4, industrial development of Sears Is- land, and the Sierra Club, which has unleashed an arsenal of legal weapons to block it, are diametrically opposed. The latest chapter in the 940-acre is- PRISCILLA CHAPMAN, executive di- presidentofitsMaine Group, land's history began back in 1903 when rector of the Sierra Club's New Eng-leaders in the fight against a Sears the B&A began buying land in Sears- land Chapter, and Kenneth Cline, land cargo port. port to establish an ocean terminal, according to Joel Eastman, the is- The park shut its doors in 1927 afterthe Sierra Club. She referred it to the land's historian. the automobile revolutionized travel, executive committee of the Maine The railroad built terminals in threekilling the park and any plans the rail- Group. It voted to adopt the issue, separatelocationsincluding Mackroad had to turn Sears Island into a One gets a sense of deja vu when Point where a coal terminal, freightsummer resort. talking to Kenneth Cline. While his mo- yard and engine house were erected,' Over the years "the island's historytives aren't the same, he sounds like wrote Eastman in "A History of Searsas a prosperous farm ended, the islandFranklin Cram might have sounded Island." Mack Point is still the site of a gradually reverted to an almost na-talking about the island's potential in B&A cargo dock and tracks. It is alsotural state, and the hikers, hunters and 1905. the preferred site for cargo port expan-picnickers came to view it almost as a "In an ideal world this would make a sion by opponents of the Sears Islandpublic preserve," wrote Eastman. pretty nice park," said the professor of plan. Beginning in 1960, major proposalsenvironmental law and policy at Col- In 1905 the railroad purchased Searsto develop the island this time with lege of the Atlantic. Island for $55,000 from the Sears fami- heavy industry surfaced. Compa- Ironically, the B&A's preservation of ly, who had summered there for gener- nies proposed building an aluminumthe island for nearly a century is the ations. Cram had summered in smelter, an oil refinery, a nuclear pow- reason Cline's group still has a crack at Searsport for years, and he recognizeder plant, a liquified natural gas plant, apreserving its natural beauty. the potential for recreational develop-coal-fired plant and a coal gasification Cram's successor, Walter Travis, is ment that would generate traffic forplant. In 1969 the Amoskeag Co. bought stillinterested in turning a profit. the railroad just like shipments ofthe railroad and the Bangor Invest-Sears Island has tremendous develop- lumber and potatoes headed for the sea ment Co., the subsidiary that owns thement potential today, says the current from Aroostook County. The railroad island. president of the B&A, which wants to already had built a station and steam- In the mid-1980s the company sold 40 move cargo from the proposed port. boat wharf at Kidder Point from which acres of the island to the state for a It could mean hundreds of jobs for a new federallyfunded causeway cargo port. economically depressed Waldo stretches today to the island. The cargo port proposal raised the County. First, the railroad moved to developconcerns of Massachusetts residents But Cline says,"If they are ultimate- a recreational park on Bar Point, per-Betsy and Frederick Fawcett, whosely successful with what they want to haps looking on the island as the sec-summer house faces the site. Betsy, a do, Penobscot Bay will be changed I, ond stage of development, speculatesSierra Club member, referred the mat-ever. For those of us who think tht._ Eastman. The railroad ran excursion ter to Priscilla Chapman, executive di-are lots of ports, but not lots of Penob- trains to the park. rector of the New England Chapter ofscot Bays, that's a sad loss."

35 BEST COPY AMLABLE Bangor8 Daily News Wednesday, May 12, 1993 By Kathy Harbour national park as easements. Even senthal easement, it was noted that mentwasbeenyear heldon withoutdivided a propertyas a development.andconservation thatdeveloped could ease- have but of easements historic,siderationtion,outlinedfor easements inarchaeological of the the must boundaryscenic, meet ecological, and legisla-criteria cul- criteria that include con- tureMondayaccordingpiece impact ofthat to property on,the Reynolds.any study tax heldThe onbase assuperintendent the an of fu-ease- a explained CommissionEasements affect economy,considersOf the NEWSdevelopment Staff impact though some easements allow for elected officials on Cranberry Is- Gray argued that the Commissionpark should member Albert tural values of the property. Ac- ment would have to include as- mending acceptanceTREMONT of a 10-acre Although recom- limitedevenmission development, limited members development several contend com- could that easement,generalland had butquestions taken that nothey about Hancockposition had theraised onfuture the easements.not be in the "Most business of theseof accepting are not personnel,cording to Reynoldsmany offers and from other land- park thatsumptions area and about about development the future it-in contiguous to the park ... and re- owners are rejected because the self. However, the park will be wardweekCommissionIsland,conservationAcadia the their several growing Nationalrising easementsignaled members number resentment Park againon of Advisory Suttonof prime this theto- bycommunitiesdevelopment.havepropertiesmean the been apark loss used thatas in fearmore forOtherspropertymight moreencroachment properties eventually say expansive taxes areon their park-heldbeenthebase.effects advisory vocal of easements,easements incommission his objectionsFarnham contendedon who the hastax toButler, a member of caredoesn'tthestrict park of public havewhat one enough bitaccess.they've of good. money ItgotSuperintendent doesn't Theas toit parktakeis." do Bob Reynolds haveparcelstectlandowners argued theirdo not atland satisfy havepast in meetings the perpetuitySomethe right criteria. commission thatto pro-and members ductlanticworkinglook a student limited at with the thisaimpact andCollege summer more Inof of thateasements. focused theto study, con- At- the economic im- easementseconomiceasements.parcels held impact on the by ofConsideration local the conservation parktax base as of the potential Rosenthalacreommendedheld as parcel easements. family the owned park on acceptOnthe byMonday,shore a 10- of the commission rec- the on vationgameparcelMonday for seemseasement acceptancethat to any be by consideredshorefront the "Ifas park. aa conser-piece fair of property is on the explainedtheboundariesfromments national land arethat in conservationincluded of parka differentthe has park, beenwithin category andease- given thatthe pendentagreedcroachmentacceptancehave said that study it anis byof shouldinaccurate objective easementstheLast park. be summer,conducted andto equateas inde- en- the commission development.other,iswilleasementspact a "forever beof oneconsidered.two in typesthat thewild" town allowsof Oneeasement; conservation of easement Tremontlimited the severaladvisoryhasmoretowns dominated meetings. propertiescommissionwill be discussion the arefutureSome for held the losersat members past bythe the as insist local ommendedcloseSuttonommendingeasementfront proximity Island, parcel lastas property acceptancethe to aDecember. conservation anothercommission that of shore-lies Onthe in rec-Ro- sertdered)watertothe tax $7,000 townforsomewhere, assessor inclusion," potentially in property had Butlerit'sButlerdetermined could (consi-taxes said said. lose each he up and the Mount De- beenofthroughpermission natural,interest," deemed legislation. scenic toReynolds toaccept be values "PreservationinProperty easementssaid.the public... has that can be considered on "toorejectedbase,vationthe potential speculative but easements when plans impact itfor wasand on the of theexpensive,"found study conser- local towere taxbe chairmanareourselvesneed reasonable to of find the whether acommission, way or Accordingnot." ofour convincing concerns "We to Lee Worcester, BEST COPY ANIALKI'iLE: College forges link with China BAR HARBOR College of the development of hip;nan ecology Atlantic Academic Dean RichardBorden as an and Philosophy Professor John Visvader educational, research, and applied-per: spective worldwide. -He also spokeabout were recently invited by the Chinese the ways in which COA has been Academy of Science to give presentations using on sustainable development and human computer-based technologies, suchas ecology. Geographical Information Systems (GIST, to facilitate regional participation in The Academy of Sciences in Beijing development planning. has just established an Asia-Pacific Cen- "China is changing very fast," Borden ter for Human Ecology Training. Borden said. "Yob can.see it everywhere and Visvader attended the academy's first the old rubbing up against the new." Atthe summer training institute, which included same time, Borden notes, there seems to a two-week certification course on sus- be intense interest in theuses of human tainable development. Thecourse was ecological approaches to planning for attended by Chinese professionals, urban the future. it was an honor forus to be invit- and regional piannerS, educators in key ed to help launch this scientific andpoll-- positions, and government officials who cy program," he said.

will be involved in development issues. The institute is linked to "China's. and planning. Agenda 21," a white paperon China's Professor Visvader's background is in population, environment, and develop-': philosophy of science and humanecolo- ment in the 21st century, whichwas gy, and he is also an expert .in Chinese adopted in March, 1994, by the Peo:: philosophy. His presentations focused ple's Republic of China. TheAcademy on the relationships of Eastern and of Sciences has an importantrole in:' Western views of science, ecology, and providing ecological planningadvice,- technology: on a variety of large -scale projects; "I see this collaborationas a wonderful such as developinga sustainable devel- opportunity to get our students involved opment plan for northern China and the in pioneering planning in China,"said creation of a 500-square - kilometer -- Visvader. A letter of agreementto start nature /recreation area in the Guang-. student and faculty exchanges has been dong Province. written. Visvader belieVes that the devel- The academy has begun to train people opment plan formulated by the academy in ecological applications, theuse of new and "Agenda 21" will be "an influential technologies, and the development of model for the 2Ist century." methods of collaborative regional plan- Borden's presentation highlightedthe ning. COA's local, state, and internation- - . al programs in these fields became of interest to the academy when Dr. Rusong Wang, director of the institute, visited here in 1992.

The Bar Harbor Times September 29, 1994

38 BEST COPY AVAILABLE ame coast_ rows. mi-.;* es :Researchers haYe:discOvered that computer prOgiatni allow planners longei thani. and researchers to integrate information Maine's. rugged coastline .originallY thought about 600 Milei about a wide variety of physical and nat- longer, in fact: : ural features in a given region.. Land use ;' The 'latest information proVided by activities, wildlife habitat Such-as salmon Geographic Information System (GIS) spawning areas and eagle nests, acquifers, computerkputs.the length at 5,500 miles.:._._.,and even hazardous waste sites can be *buring a project at the College of. the pinpointed and examined. Atlantic in Bar Harbor The 1:24,000 scale is comparable with to map the entire state at a scale of 1: the 7.5-minute U.S. Geological Survey 24,000, new techniques, including the use topographical maps. of exisiting maps, satellite data, and Agencies participating in the mapping ground observations, enabled researchers effort include the Maine departments of to include a level of detail not possible Environmental Protection, Inland Fish- eN;en'a 'decade ago. - , eries and Wildlife, and Marine Resources, ::`Included in the total are all tidally the Maine Office of GIS, and the Maine influenced waters from the Piscataqua to:'Geological Survey. ';The project is being underwritten by the St: Croix River and digitized data On _ nearly 6,200 islands. -the DEP's Oil Spill Response program which plans to use the data base to manage information in the event of an oil Earl Brechlin

Ellsworth Weekly, May 14, 1994

BES COPY AVAILABLE NEWS ABOUT TOWN Ohr ENCORE STUMPER COLUMNS REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIEDS BariumUltima : May 5, 1994 friendsRiver,hen it comes computers,a fish can to insuring have. satellites, the survivaland Scott of DickersonAtlantic salmon just may in the be Dennysthe best B As part of his graduate studies at College of the Atlantic, Dickerson has created watershed.a Geographicnowpolicy-even urging the makers locationBy the Informationcombining speciesthe of datathree beinformation Systemthey hazardous placed need (GIS) on toon wastethe better knownmap Endangered sites, ofmanage salmon the Dickerson entire Speciesforhabitat, 140-square-milesalmon. hopes humanList. Some to beactivity, ablegroups Dennys to and give are severaldybemps large Lake aquifers and heads located south, deep drinking in sand deepLocated and alonggravel in easternthe deposits way Washingtonof left cold behind waters County,by from the the Dennys gushes forth from Med- glacier's retreat 10,000 years ago. The river winds among woods, blueberry 25beforebarrens, milessalmon, emptying fromclearcut the its Dennysheadwaters. intopatches, Cobscook River and is settledaBay, vital some resourcelandBecause of its unique population of wild ersonAtlanticMaine,important helped Dickerson Sea to theRun catalog survival Salmonnoted. vital of Commission, salmon inhabitat Eastern Dick-Working on with Ken Beland of the Maine ellite and computer beds, stretches of water where young fish ; . the river. Those areas include spawning ;land photos_ by Earl Brechlino able imagery is nice, butsalmon's you have rescue to get theout fish seek refuge in summer before going mature,gettingto sea. and to know deep, the cold area holding in person. pools The where avail-"i spent a lot of time in this watershed LJItorlCt SCII I CApicue Once those areas' are put into the corn- topographicaleningtheputer from inwatershed infra-redthey satellites can maps. aerialcan be in lowthen -overlaidLand photos earth be use added andorbit. ontoactivities images by existing blend- intak- andarea.son andthe river others run can parallel ask questionsto the ocean," about Dick-Once the"We the discovered data is in thatthe computer,the major Dicker-aquifers thedepositserson warm said, aremonths. sourcesexplaining of cold that water the gravelduring . times."was so productive during pre-Colonial"This is maybe one reason the Dennys . - _ k. thelight computer's of the computer- mouseSitting lab, atto Dickersoncall-uphis different clicks keyboard in.the subdued screenlines ofas vividthe...nor-maiey color factor representing inpale -7-UsingpreserV-ing blue water, the-data" biodiversity roads, base, vegetation, Dickersonand species and was structures. habitat. able to ask about forest fragmentation, a background'color is .supPlahted by patcheS setsand of information. Colors spread across the The computer showed occasionallyWasthat"tfldreweie unbroken overlapping Ohly.eighis'areasin a_ circle circles.with a 500-meter in the entire radius. 140-mile The, areaswatershed show Where up as athe-forest series of white.outlineofswamps trees inor the manmade of last the 10 undeibround yearsboundaries following feature.All such thean as restintenseglowsThe fields, ofGIS brightthe roads,spruCe maps woods over and showedbudworm aretheother cutover fragmented that infestation. features..areas. one major by natural The aquifer features had been such almost as barrens totally or cleared shed,surface Including water will a gravelhave to monitored, DickersonOfficialsHow said. the knowclearing of three of vegetation hazardous above the sand affects recharging of the sub- it near Meddybemps Lake where transfoemer oil contain- waste sites, shown as red dots in the , water- BEV COPY AMIABLE 43 Page B2 The Bar Harbor limes May 5, 1994 ingSaving carcinogenic SalmOsalari PCBs was spilled. continued from page B1 W.GiS WOE! Remove all the vegetation stands out on the and road data,edge of a vital rams allow planners and researchers to inte- physical . coastline600 miles is longer longer, than in Researchersgrows have Maine coast by 600fact.discovered that Maine's originally thought miles ruggedabout andaquifer. ofthe the red chemical dot Dickerson said experts is not water soluble have said the andmonitored there- form rate information snatural sf owing''asneedy features much iii4000..i09i6h or as about a wide vanety little information: as and createof , Informationat 5,500 miles.System (GIS)The latestDuring information a project at provided the College computers puts the ofbGeographic the Atlantic in length forein mationthenot future.a threat. on the But, Dennys According to Dickerson, it will have to bewill now allow the digitized infor- policymak- shoW.ii0000:aiid:IOngitadecOn-aInformation handheldsites uni swith and globai- even position- frOrnlk..?oas4s*o*,::oo;from ground observers system units that in ' ing maps, 24,000,Barenabled Harbor new researchers to techniques, map the toentire satellite data, and include a level of detail notincluding the use of exisit- groundstate observations, at a scale of 1: ersthey levelssurvivalto crafthave were factorsno wayin 1620, such as better decisions. of knowing what the data collected water temperature or And, even though other salmon recently silt areanded even and hazardousexamined. wasteLand usecarefUllYef;ieiia activities, wildlife iiitais&tdrriptit6 comparable with the 7.5-sites can be pinpoint-habitat, aquifers, , possibleandwaters digitized even from a the decadedata Piscataqua ago. Included in the total are all an nearly 6,200 islands. to the St. Croix ticlaV influenced River measureandresults included andfuture inmay GIS do a Officials have been fluctuations. provides a goodsimilar project involving pleased so far with baseline to thethe minutemaps. U.S. Geological The 1:24,000But, unlike scale conventional is maps simultaneously, GIS computers Survey topographical which show all varietyresearchersregion. of physical Landto integrate use and activities,GIS computer programs natural featuresinformation in a given about a wide wildlifeallow planners habitat suchand as Narraguagusthe GIS inforination River in the to near The key, according to Dickerson,help promote .is importantfuture. natural humanto use canthetoresearcher informationdisplay get a detailed as wants. little or System as usersWhen several types of close-up of specific areas. much informationdata are as aneeded, the can also zoom in" andsalmonand even examined. spawning hazardous areas waste The 1:24,000 scale is and eagle comparablenests, with the 7.5-sites can be pinpointed acquifers, activitytogether,"resources. while he "Now explained.preserving we can see More often than not, GIS is showing that how lands really fit involved the computerry thebanks. computer precisely can create aInstead of terrain data overlays the data in its memo- and roads, for instance,map showing only , minuteincludeProtection, U.S., the Geological Maine Inland departments FisheriesAgencies participating Survey topographical maps.in the mapping effortand Wildlife, and Marine of Environmental seldomkey geological follow political and "GIS gives us a biological featuresbetterborders. tool for said. "It shows that a managing waterbodies,added, or just aquifers, the and With a keystroke, other required data can be printed informationforest can cover. be . GeologicalResources, Survey. the Maine Office underwritten by the DEP's of GIS, and the Maine information,"somebroad landsrange Dickerson of uses can need to be managedbe toallowed. prorhote canCertainly, also see how to outCollege on a plotter. of the AtlanticOn Mount Desert Island, students have been GIS maps created by used in #4 Oiloildata Spill spill base Response to manage programThe project is being information in the event of an which plans to use the allowbiologicalland." human diversity, beings but we 3ES1 COPY AVAILABLE to make a living off the ala varietytowns. of municipal planning situations in sever- olay 19, 1994 Inc DOI 1101Utii mica

1 Edited by Letitia Baldwin 288-3311 fallAtlanticCOA will studenttravel toand Uruguay facultyforgesBAR member where HARBOR they next.. Uruguay tie A College of the GISdentsvisited laboratory. to COA discuss to meet the with establishmentThe faculty multiversity and ofstu- a was started in 1989 as . .on wetlandsCOA-, Uruguay managementBAR to work HARBOR A Uruguay- toteSystemswill,set in the up(GIS) capital a Geographic lab city at an of educational In..her,Montevideo. Information third insti-, i,,year at COA, Rebecca has, Gudynas,Americanan alternative "knowledge uni'versitywhere, to the traditionaliseompartmental- Latin'says establishmentan educatorInformationlege of therecently ofAtlantic Systems a Geographic visited to discusslaboratory Col- the MontevideomapAubrey of Uruguay. will be used to conduct already completed a' base The. GIS lib in .ized and theretakesCollegebetween is analmost.no of theinterdisciplinary the different Atlantic,-the relationship diSciplines." approachmultiversity Like to dynas,at his institution. academic coordinatorAccording for to Eduardo Gu- a)td Aubreymanagementresearch has on also wetlands and translated Coastal conservation the planning.commands and. program.teaching It andalso has offers a strong a masters environmental degrees ' ogyLatinthe Franciscan is America, currently theMultiversity in GIS use technol-in Uru- of (IQ 01-1 linkandfacultyfor Anderson in the developing toGIS use will software the help technology. our train "ThisintoCaribbean students Spanish. partnership and and She will be an important notgyrecognizedin ecologyis been currently appliedandby thein theology, useVatican. to in environmentalUruguay,According the latter but beingto haS Gudynas, GIS technolo- birds,cha,helpsystemtoguay, environmental managea butsome major at it COA hasof the breeding them not wetlandswill research. beenendangered. be area usedapplied of The Rofor to efforts,dean.RichardLatin important American"Through Borden, international studiesthethis 'college's project program," leadership andacademic othersays whichmajortoresearch. help arebreeding manage Theendangered. COA the area wetlands system for birds, will of Rocha, somebe used of a' havevationists.international been Somedrained concern of The tothe createto wetlands conser- rice of Rocha are of Lnrn4zco forCOAopportunities for students." the institute. will become MultiversidadEduardo available Gudynas, to academic coordini:.;. al ricetheconcern wetlands fields, to conservationists.with have 90% beenThe of drained the Rocha riceSome to wetlandsare grown create of of internation- thegrownfields, multiversity withfor exportation. 90 percent willGudynas of address the rice hopes that COA and 1/4o Franciscans de America Latina, recently for exportation. withthe project. management.studieseconomicthe multiversity "This considerationsCOA partnership in Uruguay officials in theirare excited about of the wetlands 4 f, BEST COPY AVADLABLE statement.dean,Richardinvelopingwill American be an saidBorden, our important Caribbean studiesin COA a prepared program,"link academic and in Lat- de- Viewpoint Support the comprehensive plan

next Tuesday's town meeting is an advisory by Heather Dority document Only. Change can only occur if those plans are proposed I grew up in Bar Harbor'and, for a long time, took and put on the warrant of subsequent town meetings. for granted that the town had many beautiful areas that And, before placing them on the warrant, the town had been preserved for the enjoyment of all. will hold further public hearings. Possibly, townspeo- I only recently became aware that this beauty exist- ple will decide that, since conditions have changed, a ed because, throughout this century, the town has vol- proposed change is no longer feasible just as untarily protected its unique character and its fragile townspeople decided that the proposal for one-way island ecosystem. . traffic (included in the 1980 plan) was not workable. The first comprehensive plan was passed by the The goals and policies within the plan are based on town in 1907, and, since then, the plan has been information that was gathered over an 18-month peri- updated three times in 1948, 1961, and 1980. od by all of the town's boards and committees. During After transferring from a college in Ohio to the spring, 1992, the comprehensive planning committee College of the Atlantic, I became increasingly interest- held a series of public meetings to discuss the nine ed in land-planning issues. This' summer, I had the .goals and 70 policies that describe in more detail the wonderful opportunity of working with Anne Kozak, issues covered by those goals. Jon Lockman, and Rob Macomber on the final draft - Followingthose meetings, the committee incor- of Bar .1:Larbor's most recent comprehensive plan a porated our concerns and interests into discussion plan which will serve as the framework for long-range of the goals. planning within the town. I would like to urge you all to take an active part of I am proud, not only that our town has taken such the future-of Bar Harbor. Stop by Jesup Memorial an active role in its future by adopting previous com- Library, Jon Lockman's office in the town office, or prehensive plans, but that,, as change occurs, we con- the Thomdike Library at College of the Atlantic, where tinuallyrevise and update. copies of the plan are available for the public to read. This current comprehensive plan the one vot- If you don't have time to read it yourself, an infor- ers will be asked to approve by written ballot at mational program was recorded through Dobbs Productions. This panel discussion outlines the nine goals of the plan and dis- cusses some of the implications. The program is being aired October 28 through November 1 on Channel 36 at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Unlike many young people throughout Maine and the nation, I have benefited from growing up in a town that has con- sciously tried to protect its unique character, while at the same time recognizing the need to maintain its economic viabili- lor 11 1%-, ts ty. This is a plan for the next 10 to _15 years which will help to guide us as we continue to craft ordinances that maintain both character and economic stability. I 6 ckober urge you to support this plan. Your support means the town will continue to grow to be a place where children will continue to grow up valuing the special place where they live.

BEST COPY NAV _ABLE Page B10 The Bar Harbor Times September 23, 1993 destroyed at an alarming rate. Federal and destroyed in the preliminary construction of mosquito-infestedbylands Kenneth were Cline drained, areas tofilled, Oncebe shunned, and called cursed wet-"swamps" by and seen only as Wetlands: an uncertain futureenforcementers,thissomestate loss.frustrate governmentsregulatory The agencies. developers,laws schemes often have The confuse created andresultin order overwhelm has landown-cumber- to been curb a lythe unsuccessful.them.promiseadditional Sears IslandThe of creatingacresEnvironmental Now,cargoport ofthe newwetlands DOT have ones wantsbeen Protection to with large-toreplace fill the SCIENCE COLUMN 50cessfulourdestroyed. percentforefathers was oftheir ourfor campaign nearlynation's 300Over wetlandsthat years. the more pastSo were thansuc- 20 years, there has been a politicaldevelopmentWaterindustry quagmireAct to that gut and protectthe, with the provisions perennial wetlands.recognizedIn an ofefforts effort the need Clean byto for balance the pressure for whetherwetlandsfederalAgencyfunctional agencies and it development, is the valueeven Army charged possibleof theCorps havewith forty to of oversightquestionedreplace Engineers,acres of the ofwet- agenciesandway policy-makersto recreate should a functioning focus agree Giventheir that ecosystem. regulatoryefforts this uncertainty, on most scientists balancety,aroundlandsgrowing however, play us.the awareness Despitein competing our the societynatural this of theinterests increased has and critical been human of sensitivi-unable roledevelop- world wet- to mitigation,Thisrestorationenvironmental1980s approach, began ecology was protection,to offeredknown draw to create on as regulators theacompensatory new way new wetlands. for science in us the to of cargoport.ineverreplacementlands New succeeded that England. The would eelgrass DOT in be creating lostproposes beds, in ancompletingyet eelgrass creatingno one bedhasthe avoidingofthentolands. remedythe we Ifcritical or needwe minimizingthe count to valuesdestruction accept on wetlandscreating the impacts realityof existingnew provide on that wetlands wet- manyones, will establishedTheirmenton andimportanceMt. the Desert and need widely as toIsland wildlifeprotect recognized. Wetlandsare thesehabitat aware areas. Birdersis provide ofwell- their numerous benefits. have"noformersatory our net Walmartsmitigation President loss" wetlands and Bush'sbecame ourFavored wetlands,policy.much a cornerstone ballyhooed byPresident too. land indevelopers, compen- atingenvironment.research functioning biologists' Industry's wetlands success trackCompensatory is abysmal,record rate isn'twith in cre-andmuch mitigation the odds badly is a real stacked gamble against the alsoandbe lost policythe forever. chair at College of the Maine of theKen ChapterAtlantic Cline ofandteaches the is environmental law thannurserymanyCoastalimportance, 60 species percentwetlands and asspawning ofareof provide birds;the commercial U.S. grounds theynesting commercial also fishermen. habitat for are more fishthe for "mitigationnature.ingicyClinton's seemsman's Clinton recently to ability banks" share has announced Bush's toas touted successfullya way optimism theto wetlands compensate creation regard-mimic pol- of better. In truth, no one really knows a sure Sierra Club. slowandforcatch. floodwatersinland the overland properties and flow protectfrom ofWetlands flooding.water, downstream therebyalso They provide temporary storage throughforwetlandsvided the loss theby creation wetlands, serveof natural the of it sameartificial iswetlands Givencritical function ones. the thatsystems significant as created those societal values pro- actreducingnancesurface as natural ofsoil waters groundwater erosion water and andfilters. are quantitysedimentation. Invital additionThey to andthe cleanse tomainte-quality. these functions, wetlands jects,offailedUnfortunately,wetlands effort the to conclusion materialize.and they thousands the purportedly oftechnological After most of restorationnearly scientists replace. a fixdecade pro-ishas thesefishing,Moreover,landsunderstand and canand otherthey havegeneral how provide afunctions, thedevastating recreation. cumulative areas it forecological isIn loss hunting, easylight of oftowet- and newappearancebeenorthat at compensatory preserves leastlimited doesn't of wetlands,successessimply mitigationwork don't well.but recreating measure most doesn't There of theseupworkhave the in continuetheers,economic valuesand citizens impactto of be intact disturbed,are on beginning anwetlands, area.Although degraded, to these appreciate many areas and scientists, policy-mak- Transportation'scloseoriginalterms atof wetland.hand. the functions The efforts Maine to performed replace DepartmentA good clamflats by example the of of the situation lies BEST COPY AVAILABLE theCOAAtlantic,ment World Bank Bank/InterAmerican recently, (IDB) visited toBAR holdsexplore College HARBOR Develop- possible of talks Six delegates from the tionalactiveto address institutionsnetworks these among andinternational the theMETEP private state's opportuni- has educa-sector been working to create with World Bank nate.projectsnationalof COA'sThis the programstudies." Worldongoing Bank is commitmenta natural and IDB extension coordi- to inter- America.Caribbean,cialists representing Their and CentraltourAmong began Africa, and the withSouth visitors the a were area spe- officials rolesorganizedvisitcation for was the and part collegeby development theof aMaine three-dayin international Education projects. trip to edu-Train-Maine The development.mentalhealthindustrialties. The care, policy, focus development participant The hasand recent been micro-enterprise training, tour andin fivewas training, environ- areas:hosted mentaltives'impressedthey concern work.quality by the for"Collaborating inWorld maintainingthe countriesBankCOA representa- President environ-with where such Steven Katona was receptionDevelopmentIronandSouthern included Works, with Maine Governor Center presentationsthe Technical Small of McKernan Coastal Business Collegeat Enter- Bath at wastyDepartmentMcKernaning Development, and created Export and of ProgramtoEconomic coordinated respondthe METEP (METEP).Launched and to through Communi- aprogram strong earlier the this year by Governor bynitiesIronment the Works.focus and in Mainetraining, area of have industrial which established"The is leddevelop- education by Bath an and business commu- humantiesKatona,skilled for ecology "willputtingand dedicatedprovide to the work college's exciting inSteve people,"the world." opportuni-studies Kent, said ofmanager of Human prises,Academy.Rockland,scot SchoolInc., in and forWiscasset, theLanguage MaineAt the College Studies MaritimePenob- of the Atlantic, the tour's in agementcationdemandprivate-sectornications, systems, inof developingnatural environmental development.development, resources, countries protection, telecommu- and for man- edu- and uniquemission.Borden,tive,"important said position "Becausea relationshipCOAmember Academicto of workof METEP throughthe on METEPDean the we this kindsRichard are initia-com- in of a IDB,"studyIronResourceimpression Works, hetour. said. Business "Maine praised with Development hasthethe organizers leftWorld a very Bank at of solidBath the and interdisciplinaryfinalregionalgraphicalsolving stop, planningtheand information group toured approach facilities. focused the college'stosystems onproblem- COA's geo-and

51 DES7 COPY AVM _ABLE rr 14 Bangor Daily News ancock Public meeting to address environmental priorities By Kathy ilarbour public health, environmental The 37-member steering com- Of the NEWS Staff health and the overall quality ofmittee includes representatives ELLSWORTH From Velparlife. from diverse interests in the state, seeping into drinking water to air In the second year of the project,including several people from Han- pollutants blowing in from urbanthe group willselectenviron-cock County. Local members in America, the list of environmental mental priorities that are ripe forelude Jill Goldthwait, chairwoman hazards of concern to Maine people action. Such ranking of priorities,of the Bar Harbor Town Council; will be the topic of discussion at the project notes in a recent pressTed Koffman from College of the four public meetings across the release, is vital as "public and pri-Atlantic, who will serve as moder- state this month. vate resources to protect our envi-ator at the Ellsworth meeting; The first meeting is set for 6-8 ronment are finite." Pam Person, co-chairwoman of p.m. Monday, Jan. 24, at the Ells- The analysis will weigh the rela-the Energy Policy Committee for worth City Hall. tive riskof identified environ-the Coalition for Sensible Energy; The public meetings are part of a mental threats from a scientificand State Rep. Virginia Constan- two-year study of environmental perspective. By using such a meth-tine of Bar Harbor. risks and priorities in the state, theod, it is argued, the most important Other members of the commit- focus of the Maine Environmentalenvironmental problems facingtee include representatives from Priorities Project, a project of the the state can be identified. The listthe Maine Petroleum Association, Department of Environmental of priorities will be based on publicthe Sierra Club, Bath Iron Works, Protection. The project's work is values and scientific analysis andEastern Maine Healthcare, Maine under the direction of a 37-member would serve as a guide for localForest Products Council, the steering committee representing and state government officials andMaine Sardine Council and several business, environmental, educa- those involved in environmental is-other groups. tional and government interests. sues in the private sector. . The second public meeting will Its members were appointed by Possible actions could includebe held Jan. 26 in Caribou; the final Gov. John McKernan. new regulationsorlegislation,two meetings are scheduled in Described as a new approach to greater emphasis on enforcement,Brunswick on Jan. 27 and Bidde- policy making on environmentalrecommendations for further re-ford on Jan. 28. A teleconference issues, MEPP is engaged in com- search and public education. will be held from 10 a.m.-noon on parative risk analysis. With public As described in a recent issue ofSaturday, Feb. 5, at several Uni- comment a critical part of the two- "Habitat: Journal of the Maine Au-versity of Maine campuses. year process, the steering commit- dubon Society," the "pressure to Those who cannot attend a public tee will first identify the widedetermine which are the mostmeeting are encouraged to send range of environmental problems pressing problems for action iswritten comment to Maine En- Maine people find troubling. Those mounting ... for priorities are oftenvironmental Priorities Project, problems will then be analyzed and relative and overlaid with indivi-Statehouse Station17,Augusta ranked according to their threat to dual values and perspectives." 04333.

Thursday, January 20, 1994

BEST COPYMIAMI

5 By Leila Wombacher Human Ecology Highlights Curriculum

Leila Wombacher is an editorial Cal Comp and Summagraphics, Dickerson. "GIS was the organiza- assistant with GIS World, 155 E. Seymour, Conn. Most of the lab's tional tool for putting those things Boardwalk, Suite 250, Fort Collins, data, including dozens of layers for together." CO 80525. the Mount Desert Island region, were Lab staff members work hard to developed in-house. Other data bring GIS to towns and Maine organi- The future of GIS relies heavily sources include Acadia National Park zations, including non-profit organiza- on education. College of the and the Maine State Office of GIS. tions such as the Maine Coast Heritage Atlantic (COA), Bar Harbor, The college's two GIS classes, Trust. Also, the lab is developing a Maine, is doing its part to promote Fundamentals of GIS and GIS: Maine Coast Islands GIS. the technology with a degree program Applications Development, teach Longsworth eventually would like focusing exclusively on human eco- students GIS basics and how to use to see full GIS capabilities in sur- logy the study of how humans data once they are developed. "The rounding town offices. '!We have all interact with the environment. Typic- two classes are a foundation to get a these data here at the college," he ally enrolling about 200 students each student's foot in the door," notes says. "We make maps for the town semester, COA offers a bachelor's and Longsworth. "Students gain practical offices to use in their planning pro- master's degree in human ecology. Bar knowledge by working on projects." cess, but I'd like to see the data on- Harbor, located on Mount Desert Work-study projects, summer line in their offices networked and Island, provides a natural setting for employment, internships and senior open to the public." human ecology studies and GIS re- projects apply students' GIS knowl- Longsworth also would like the lab search. The school's GIS laboratory edge. The college works with to become a UNIX operation, running was founded in 1987 by Dr. John the National Park Service, workstation ARC/INFO rather Anderson. the Maine State than PC ARC/INFO. "Dr. Anderson used GIS during his Department of "We'd also like to move doctorate dissertation mostly for Environmental into scanning technolo- ornithology studies ... and saw it Protection and the gies," he adds. "Rather could be a useful component to our Mount Desert Island than using the table curriculum here because we look at League of Towns. digitizers, we'd like to GIS as an interdisciplinary tool," Federal projects switch to scanning explains Gordon Longsworth, direc- include work for maps and data through tor of COA's GIS laboratory. Acadia National Park an optic scanner. We Longsworth, who holds a bache- on Mount Desert want to work more lor's from COA and a master's in Island. In addition, the with images and image regional planning from the Univer- lab has performed coastal processing and spend sity of Pennsylvania, also teaches GIS and wildlife habitat map- more time building GIS and coordinates GIS projects. The ping projects for the Maine applications." school emphasizes GIS application State Department of Expanded software and upscaled areas such as sustainable develop- Environmental Protection. equipment are only part of what ment, community planning, human Scott Dickerson, a COA master's Longsworth sees for the GIS lab's health issues and environmental candidate, used GIS for his master's future. Other planned improvements concerns. project, creating a planning method include increased faculty involvement and lab integration into the rest of the . The laboratory houses a Sun- for developing ecological reserves. SPARC station from Sun Micro- Dickerson identified "umbrella" college curriculum. "For example, a systems, Mountain View, Calif.; six species and areas, or species and course on historic geography might PCs running ARC/INFO and Arc- areas whose protection conserves talk about GIS or use it," Longsworth View from Environmental Systems other elements of biological diversi- says. Research Institute, Redlands, Calif; ty. "If you can identify reserves so Although not all students at COA IDRISI image processing software they include the full range of soil use GIS, the 10 percent or so who do from Clark University, Worcester, conditions present in a region, you find it a marketable skill after gradua- Mass.; a Trimble Navigation Ltd. will be preserving or conserving a tion. "A high percentage of students Global Positioning System (GPS) base broad range of habitats," he who were involved in the GIS curricu- station and Trimble Basic Plus GPS explains. lum here work and use GIS in some software from Trimble Navigation, "Potential ecological reserves were capacity in their professional careers," Sunnyvale, Calif.; a plotter from delineated by integrating a set of plan- claims Longsworth. "Almost everyone Cal Comp, Anaheim, Calif.; and large- ning strategies to select lands that who has taken it are employed and format digitizing tablets from contain certain attributes," says involved in GIS mapping." BEST COPY AVALABLE Fort Cdhns. CO &0525: USA 68 FEBRUARY 1995 54 0 1995 GISWorld,Inc..-16t.tigranx frrivZ ate iso: to Russians in COA BAR HARBORNearly two dozen The course will provide the visitors growth management and regional plan- Russian researchers, scientists and educa- with the groundwork for understanding ning; and Theodore Koffman, the col- tors will be coming to Collegeof thethe process of risk assessment, hazard lege's director of government relations, Atlantic to take part in a "Risk Assess identification and exposure assessment, will give an overview of the ECO/ECO ment and Environmental Management" and the use of these tools in environmen- (Economics and Ecology) Forum and the seminar on Monday, Nov. 14. The 'three- tal policy and regulation. Case studies Maine Environmental Priorities Project. day intensive event is sponsored by the and field visits will provide a context for Chemistry professor Donald Cass will U.S. Agency for International Develop- practical application of risk assessment in discuss case studies of the role of chemistry ment (US AID), the Academy for Educa- environmental management. in risk assessment, and Gordon Longsworth, tional Development (AED), the Maine Seven members of College of the director of the college's GIS (Geographic Education and Training Export Partner- Atlantic's faculty and staff will give pre- Information Systems) lab, will demonstrate ship (METEP) and the college's Center sentations and lead discussions and group the use of overlay technology in community for Applied Human Ecology (CAHE). workshops. Academic Dean Richard Bor- decision making and planning. The Russians represent a diverse group of den, a member of METEP's board of The METEP course is three weeks organizations including the Moscow Med- directors, will speak on the psychology of long. College of the Atlantic is working in partnership with Robert G. Gerber, Inc., a ical Academy, the Industrial Ecology Insti- environmental decision-making; Profes- geological engineering firm in Freeport, tute and the Russian Cities Union. Heads of sor J. Gray Cox will lead a workshop on Development in Augus- laboratories, senior researchers, doctors and "Reaching Agreements on Risk;" Profes- and MedicalCare. teachers are among the participants. sor Isabel Mancinelli will talkabout ta to present these workshops.

November 10, 1994. Bar Harbor Times Marine mammal Russian team to visit conference set At COA College of the Atlantic BAR HARBOR A Russian BAR HARBOR College of the will include Scott Kraus, director of the group of 25 researchers, scientists Atlantic and Allied Whale will be host- Right Whale Consortium Catalog and a and educators will visit College of ing the North Atlantic Marine Mammal researcher at the New England Aquari- the Atlantic to take part in a semi- Association Conference on Nov. 18-20. um in Boston; David Mattila, senior sci- nar on risk assessment and en- The focus of this year's gathering is a entist at the Center for Coastal Studies vironmental management Nov. discussion of photo-identification. in Provincetown, MA; and Judy Allen, 14-16. For 20 years this technique has been associate director of Allied Whale and The three-day course is being the most affordable, accessible anddirector of the North Atlantic Hump- sponsored by the U.S. Agency for effective means for many researchers toback Whale catalog. Steve Katona, International Development, the study cetaceans and pinnipeds. In largepresident of the college and an authority Academy for Educational Devel- on marine mammals, will moderate the opment, the Maine Education and part, NAMMA is made up of indepen- Training Export Partnership and dent researchers and associates of small panel. . the college's Center for Applied. organizations rich in talent and energy, Other agenda items include a busi- Human Ecology. but not money, for whom data collec- ness meeting for members to discuss The Russian visitors will receive tion from opportunistic platforms isand vote on the future direction of a groundwork for understanding central to research goals. With the NAMMA and group meetings on a vari- the process of risk assessment, advent of new techniques which utilizeety of pressing topics which tentatively hazard identification and exposure advances in electronics and cellularinclude Western North Atlantic seal assessment, and the use of these biology, many NAMMA members feelpopulations, Internet/Whalenet, whale tools in environmental policy and that a comprehensive overview of thewatching guidelines/regulations, fish- regulation. usefulness of maintaining and contribut- eries interactions, habitat studies and ing to large photographic databases is conservation. Tours of the COA GIS lab timely. are also available. Bangor Daily i;es A panel-led discussion and working The conference will be held at COA. 11/10/94 groups on specific areas of interest will For more information, call Allied help promote this dialogue. Panelists Whale at 288-5644. _ -

ESV COPY AVAOLABLE 54, NEWS ABOUT TOWN STUMPER COLUMNS REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIEDS tanding atop Cerro de Los Six months previously a Uruguayan February 2, 1995 Uruguay,theAnimas, eastern anda mountain gazingseaboard down along ofat educatorGeographicpursuit had of acome Informationcomputer-mapping to the COA Systems, campus system,in which in B the Rio de la Plata snaking ereddetailed on geographica map at the information touch of can just be a lay-few wouldacrossmind have aof rollingRebecca been plain a Aubrey fanciful five dream years ago. Neither would the young woman have dotted with cattle In the countrykeystrokes.ronmental but Thehadresearch. technologynot been applied existed to in his envi- Queenlikeimaginedthrough Katherine herself a swampy Hepburn plastered lagoon in with The with leeches towering after slogging in hipwaders African theAmerica technologyFranciscan in Montevideo. toMultiuniversity manage He wanted wetlands of to Latin use in Eduardo Gudynas was affiliated with trekkingpalm trees across overhead. the great stretches of pris- Nor would she have envisioned amakewhereUruguay's major room wetlandsbreeding easternfor rice area have paddies province for been drainedof Rocha, to the chaj and oth- threatening bombillaRochatinehookah beaches or sipping in the hierba eastern mate province from ofa and chattinga in contraption Spanish with resembling a stronger native environmental birds. program, offering a Like COA, the Multiuniversity has a studentMontevideo.Uruguayan in Windham, intellectuals CT, in whose the capital foreign Five years ago she was a high school of developalsomaster'scoastline envisioned a degree conservation bordering using in ecology. thethe plan GISAtlantic. forMr. techology Uruguay's Gudynas Entire to ille- BES COPY AVM _AB triptravelsBrunswick. to hadGrand been And Manan confined her guidance Island to a weekend in counselor New gallikeremote communities Cabo "nationally Polonio. have protected" surfaced coastal in some areas A COA STUDENT Story by Letitia Baldwin FULFILLS DREAMS 5F, homehad it statein mind and forattend her a to local stay college. put in her A determined young woman, Rebecca coastalposesinornrne another environments. a nooular. threat economical to The these nation vacation has Uruguay's budding tourism industry fragile Photos by Letitia Baldwinand Rebecca Aubrey ter'soictateubrochure college uy for catalogs, a.small, she unique came Maine across college a ULU ICI ) the Argentinians are interested in vacation- "Uruguay is quite a poor country and whoseinopedecology. environmental underlying a special She had interest philosophy devel- law was human ing there," says Rebecca, dunerelating buggies how arethe erodingsand dunes.ational The vehicles recre- are also caandAtlantic.attend made policymaking. up her Rebec-mind to College of the wreakingwildlife havoc habitats. with several students who Rebecca is among atmospheremeand this personal. was sounded: the It justplace Sr stru nall for "I loved the way the ck RCM CA technologythe computer-mapping to practiceGIS laboratory,have worked putting in COA's junior,me,"on tookrecalls who charge from the thenCOAof her and Acadiarated with National some islandParkIsland. to towns Theyhere have on collabo- Mount Desert shetuitionUnableown has on tobalanced affordher own, theher education. developassessing layeredimpact maps of development for on the potential andworkstudy,academicaround other part-time townworkwaitressing inwith orderjobs to OOLOG watersheds and wildlife. in the GIS lab, Rebeccawas givenBecause the oppoFtu- of her work tofulfill beidea herable of goal. tosettling come forhere," something she relates. less "The made"It meant a lot to me Franciscanup the computer-mapping Multiuniversity of systemLatin America. at the nity ofUruguay traveling and tosetting state,me want Rebecca to come grew even boldermore." in her ambi- After three years away from her home wouldCOAlengthfoot conservation eventuallyoutside of time, the joinshe biologistUnited her.rose NeierStatesto John the having Anderson challenge.for any set real tionsthemonthscrook andSouth she tensresolved American wasof thousands going that nation by to ofof hookspend milesUruguay. or away three by in software.she translated She also the spentcommands three monthsfor the GISpro- Drawing on her high school Spanish, Why Uruguay? ducing a series of base maps of Uruguay, BEST COPY AVAILABLE SE (nermIt I t Raln-511V 11. Page B2 The Bar Harbor Times February 2, 1995 cities,showing rivers, the mountains country's and major other ketspeddling in order chewing to gumscratch and trin-outTRUE GRIT, continued utes as a form of chivalry. Over a steaming hierba task.American features.While nationfunds was no Simply getting to the South easy edgeenough of Spanish, money for it atook bite herto eat. a While she had some knowl- Rebeccainmate COA's tea recounts one Blair recent Dining that wintry one Room, of dayher ofU.S.from Departmentthe college's Education t foreignalmost tongue. entirely Atcommunicating inthe the while to adjust to childoldwasmost was street getting memorable on thegirl. to streets Sheknow experiences learned peddlingan 8-year- the Rebeccahercovergrant expenses, somehelped also hadof sity,enging she had jobtheFranciscan ofthe librarian, teaching chal- Multiuniver- Jorge de amountknackscoloring of by moneybooks 3 a.m. andin a otherday, she knick- "If she made a certain waitressedaschunk.to contributea nanny She at theworked and Vil-a Leon, two politicalscience studentsand a geographyteacher how to -wouldCOAvery be proud student,given of half. herself," remembering She recalls was the buysummerlage theGreen $950 in Bakery order aiiplane last to use thesystem. GIS "It always madecolor.facesmile my"Just when thatday." the broke asked smile across ifon she'd her the face like girl's to ariseexpensesticket during and that her afford wouldthree-month other stay. speak Spanish perfectly, but that Iamazed couldn't me comingher to return year. As to herUruguay senior this The encounter has inspired pro- capitalfrom New of Buenos York to Aires the whereArgentine she Last September she flew bers.myselfsomehow "After understood," I acould while, always itshe just remem- sortmake of centerwithject, Jorgeshe for hopes deMontevideo's Leon to andcollaborate create street a Jchnconservation,College Anderson, of biologistthe left, Atlantic Uruguyanideo.transferred, Stepping capital off flying was the likeplaneon toentering Montev-in the menclicked..." was another challenge. Dealing with Uruguayan happen.nation,children. she Given will her likely great make determi- that tyjoined librarianright, Rebecca and Jorge Multiuniversi- Aubrey, de different,"another World.recalls the COA stu- "I was prepared for it to be lower"At)! forward the Mama! fair greetings AmericanGuachitar would andwoman oth- fol- gized," says Rebecca. Her green "I came back very ener- prcvinceUruguay'sLeon ofon Rocha a easterntrip to bydent, the who degree was stillof poverty bowled she over wentwith flowingabout her brown activities hair inas Mon- she -' neverradianceeyes would are about haveshining her. had Sheand this says,there oppor- "Iis a BEN C V AVALABLE whitewh.ere t eadles the pristine and stir. 1,,,A,r0,4,w,(04-admifeoma-aferzedsec the Maine Association of Planners y IThe Northern New EnglandChapter merican Planning Association M lation A Planning & EconomicDevelopment Conference ilolapti-As: in Bar Harbor, Maine Thursday. & Friday?September 22 & 231994 ;51 ,,,,,,, .. . Preliminary Agenda Co-sponsored by the: Includes Sessions on:

Tourist Based Business The Maine Coastal Program, The College of the Atlantic Trail Development

Home Based Business

& A. P. A.'s Resort & TourismDivision Reuse-Redevelopment Rural Development

Business Visitation/ Business Retention

Market Trends Conference Headquarters: Student Exchange Bar Harbor's Regency HolidayInn on Eden Street Mobile Workshops 1-800-234-6835 Exhibit Hall for Vendors Make your Room ReservationNOW! & Community Displays Participant Room rates range from $79.00 ingleJdouble occupancy to $119.00 for quadruple Awards Presentation & Exhibits ccupancy. (SpecifyNNECAPA conference when egistering. ) Ocean or Park views are available. NOTE: The Hotel will not accept Family Excursions Conference Registrations. See back! AND MORO im

Air & Ferry Service Available Visit Acadia National Park Mark your calendars TODAY For further information on conferenceparticipation, registration scheclule,-, for this and exhibit space, contact: Special Fall Event! Thursday & Friday Maureen O'Meara (207)799-0115 FAX (207) 799-7141 September 22 & 23, 1994 or Kathy Fuller (207)626-2366 FAX (207) 626-2304 --! (

3LE BEST COPYAV,t4. LA NF,WSFROM-THEMAINEIF,NVIRONMENTAL-13RI.ORITIE.SPROJECT Fall 1994Vol. 1, Issue 2 Project Gains New MEPP Issues List The following is a summary of the environmental issues that are being ana- Perspectives At Roundtables lyzed in Maine's comparative risk process. This list was developed through Maine citizens provide valuable insights wide public input, including public meet- Three Roundtables were held in June and July and several more discussions are ings and a statewide telephone survey of being organized for the early fall. These forums serve a key function in the comparative 901 Maine residents, and was checked for risk process by helping ensure that the Project works with comprehensive information completeness at recent Roundtable dis- about the environmental concerns and perspectives of Maine people. cussions. In addition, the Project's Steer- On June 29 in Augusta, the Project met with 14 people representing interests in ing Committee and technical working outdoor recreation, tourism, camps and hunting. The small group setting and groups, representing a range of perspec- facilitation were designed to encourage discussion among participants and to address tives and expertise, contributed to the list. as many issues as possible in the time available. After listening to the group's concerns The issues listed here are not in priority and probing the nature and level of those concerns, participants were given the order: environmental issues list developed by the Project and asked to evaluate its compre- Contamination of Land hensiveness. Includes risks from both point and non- The Steering Committee and Technical Working Groups will use a detailed record point source discharges to land.This of the discussions to inform the comparative risk evaluation process. A sampling of topic includes issues such as the applica- the issues discussed is presented here to give interested parties a sense of how the tion of pesticides and herbicides in forest, Roundtables work. - agricultural, commercial and household The outdoor recreation group identified a number of concerns about access to settings; atmospheric deposition; chemi- coastal, public and private lands, and expressed a strong feeling that continued access cal spills; land application of wastes; and to the land is important. The limited capacity of some areas to support tourism was discharges from waste facilities. discussed, as was noise pollution on lakes in southern Maine. Visual pollution was mentioned in connection with land use and concerns about the Contamination of-Surface quality of the countryside. This included concern about the placement of billboards, Water and Sediments (Fresh Water signage, utility lines and poles and the visual impact of clear-cuts. and Marine) The provision of safe drinking water was mentioned as a serious issue. There was Includes risks from both point and concern that the Safe Drinking Water Act has had the effect of closing some seasonal non-point source discharges to fresh wells and springs because required filtration was not cost effective. The end result, waters and marine waters and the accu- some said, is that some seasonal users have turned to less safe surface waters. mulation of contaminants in sediment. Participants also were concerned about the impact on tourism of health advisories, This topic includes issues such as the such as the advisory on mercury in fish. impact of runoff from forest, agricul- Even this small sampling of the discussion shows that participants are bringing a tural and developed lands; atmospheric wide range of concerns to the Roundtable discussions. "We're hearing about issues deposition; chemical spills; discharges that touch on all parts of the Project's work concerns about quality of life, health from waste facilities; discharges from and environmental quality," said Ted Koffman, a Steering Committee member who septic systems; and industrial discharges. observed the June 29 Roundtable discussion. "The public is challenging us to see all Contamination of Ground Water the issues and to see all sides of the issues." Includes risks from both point and Participants in the discussion included Ed Andrews of the Maine Youth Camping non-point source discharges to ground Association, Jim Thompson of the Maine Publicity Bureau, Evelyn A. McAllister of water. This topic includes issues such as the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce, Thomas C. Hildreth of Sugarloaf Hotel, infiltration of pesticides and herbicides; Jim Gorman of the Sportsman's Alliance, John P. McCatherin of New England atmospheric deposition; chemical spills; Telephone Co., Donna L. Moreland of the Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of malfunctioning septic systems; land ap- Commerce, Wanda L. Plumer of the Brunswick Area Chamber of Commerce, Dianne plication of wastes; discharges from waste C. Tilton of the Sunrise County Economic Council, Russell Walters of Raft Maine, facilities; and industrial discharges. (continued on page 4) (continued on page 2) occr nnav AVAILABLE 2

(continued from page 1) This topic includes ground level ozone,dust, paiticulates including asbestos, other 11 Drinking Water at the Tap sulfates/sulfites/sulfur compounds, ni-toxins includingprOucts of combustion Includes risks associated with the extrac-trates/nitrites/nitrogen compounds, par-from space heating and off -gassing from tion, treatment and distribution of drinkingticulates, air toxics, and other volatilebuilding materials and home furnishings. water. This topic includes the risks associ-organic compounds attributable to both Exposure to Toxins in the ated with chlorination, fluoridation, bio-stationary and mobile sources. Wink Place logical contaminants, lead and other con- Indoor Air Pollution Includes risks posed by the use of chemi- taminants from distribution systems. Includes risks posed by the presence ofcals in the work place. The topic includes Outdoor Air Pollution airborne contaminants in residences, work exposure to hazardous materials used in the Includes risks posed by all contami-places and public buildings. The topicmanufacturing and service industries, agri- nants (originating from both within andincludes risks such as radon, environmen- culture, food processing, transportation, outside of Maine) in ambient outdoor air.tal tobacco smoke, lead contaminated energy production, and waste treatment. Degradation of Forest Resources Includes risks posed by the degradation or unsustainable use of Maine's forest Project Will Look At Managementresources. This topic includes the effects of pollution, effects of management prac- Strategies In Next Phase tices, and the effects of forest conversion. The comparative risk approach to envi-continued input," said Sherry Huber, a Degradation of Marine ronmental concerns is similar to how amember of the Steering Committee. Fisheries Resources software engineer goes about creating a The management strategy phase will Includes risks posed by the degradation new computer program. First, it's impor-begin after the Steering Committee hasor unsustainable use of Maine's marine tant to understandin detailthe prob-ranked Maine's environmental risks based fisheries resources. This topic includes the lems that must be solved for the computeron scientific information from the techni- effects of pollution such as toxins, effects user. After that, a coherent package is putcal working groups and the knowledge ofof actions such as harbor dredging, effects together. public values and concerns developedof management practices, the impacts of Maine's comparative risk analysis isthrough public involvement activities. waterfront conversion, and the loss of well into part one of that kind of effort The Steering Committee's evaluationworking waterfronts. understanding problems and concerns in of management strategies will take into Degradation of Agricultural and detail. But, the Project does not end withaccount what was learned about risks andOther Economic Land Resources part one. In the middle of next year, thepublic values in phase one. They also will Includes risks posed by the degradation Project will move from its focus on iden-look at new factors, such as the costs,or unsustainable use of Maine's agricul- tifying and analyzing risks to phase twofeasibility, legal framework and publictural and other land resources. This topic managing risks. This phase will involveacceptability of different options for ad-includes the effects of pollution, agricul- examining possible solutions or strategiesdressing the known risks. For example, tural practices, loss of agricultural land to for managing the risks identified in phaseloss of jobs could be considered as a costdevelopment or forests, sand and gravel one. connected with a specific managementdepletion, and mining. "We've found at our first public meet-strategy. Alteration and Destruction of ings and recently at the Roundtables that The Steering Committee will recom-Terrestrial Ecosystems people are eager to talk about manage-mend changes in environmental policy Includes risks posed by physical and ment strategies. That opportunity is on after examining current management strat- chemical changes to Maine's terrestrial the horizon and we'll be looking for theiregies through this thorough framework.ecosystems. This topic includes risks as- The Progress of Maine': _...... _-

MARCH 1993 MAY 1993 DECEMBER 1993 TO FEBRUARY 1994 After 18 months planning by the state Depart- Gov. John R. McKernan appoints Maine Project engages the public in identifying key ment of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Priorities Project Steering environmental issues through a series of public ECO/ECO policy forum at College of the Committee to direct the comparative risk meetings, focus groups and a public opinion Atlantic, the federal Environmental Protection analysis. survey. Agency awards a grant for a comparative risk JULY 1993 MARCH 1994 analysis in Maine: Steering Committee orientation meeting at Human Health, Ecological, and Quality of Life College of the Atlantic. working groups organize and prepare for study of issues. RPST COPYAVAILABLE 1 MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL PRIORITIES PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE AND STAFF

Stephen J. Adams Christopher J. Hall Meredith Tipton Director, State Planning Office Vice President Director, Public Health Division Maine Chamber of Commerce and Industry City of Portland Patricia Aho Executive Director, Maine Petroleum Phil Harriman Thomas Urquhart Association State Senator, Yarmouth Executive Director Maine Audubon Society John Banks Penny Harris Director, Department of Natural Resources Director of Development Penobscot Nation Eastern Maine Healthcare

Richard Bennett Marquita Hill Staff State Representative, Norway Director, Chemicals in the Environment Information Center, University of Maine Cynthia Bertocci David Boulter Project Administrator Director, Land Use Regulation Commission Jan Hitchcock Department of Environmental Protection Assistant Professor Daniel Boxer Lewiston-Auburn College, USM Karl Wilkins Attorney, Pierce, Atwood, et al. Department of Environmental Protection Marilyn Notch Kenneth Cline Attorney, Pine Tree Legal Assistance Sierra Club (Maine Group) Sherry F. Huber James Reed Coles Executive Director Facilitators State Representative, South Harps well Maine Waste Management Agency Ann Gosline Charles S. Colgan Fred Hurley Attorney, Litchfield Muskie Institute of Public Affairs Director, Bureau of Resource Management University of Southern Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Jonathan Reitman Attorney, Brunswick Virginia Constantine Jeffrey Kaelin State Representative, Bar Harbor Executive Director, Maine Sardine Council

Neil Crane Theodore Koffman President, Crane Brothers, Inc. ECO/ECO Coordinator U.S. EPA Contact College of the Atlantic Albert Curran Debra Gutenson Ronald Kreisman CEO, Woodard & Curran Regional and State Planning Branch General Counsel U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Council of Maine John Dieffenbacher-Krall Washington, D.C. Toxics Coordinator, Maine People's Alliance Paul Merrill Pat Flood President, Merrill Industries, Inc. Regional Forest Manager, International Paper Mason Morfit Charles Gadzik Vice President Forest Manager, Baskahegan Company The Nature Conservancy/Maine Chapter

Deborah Garrett Pamela Person Acting Commissioner Coalition for Sensible Energy Department of Environmental Protection Floyd Rutherford Kevin Gildart President, Paper Industry Information Office Assistant to the President, Bath Iron Works John Tewhey Jill Murdoch Goldthwait President, Tewhey Associates Chair, Bar Harbor Town Council Karin Tilberg Lani Graham, M.D. Attorney, Hallowell, Maine Director, Bureau of Health Department of Human Services

BEST COPYAVAILABLE TECHNICAL WORKING GROUPS

(Editor's note: The names and affilia- Edward Spear Quality of Life Technical Great Northern Paper, Inc. tions of participants in the ecological, Working Group . human health and quality of life techni- Barbara St. John Vickery Brian Beal cal working groups are reported in this The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter University of MaineMachias/Marine Sciences edition of Update to give you a sense of the range of experience the Project has Robert Steneck Ron Beard University of Maine Darling Marine Center called on. Please note that the listing of University of Maine/Extension Educator an affiliated organization is not intended Ken Warner Fred Beck to indicate that organization's endorse- Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife F.M. Beck, Inc./Geologist ment of theProject.) Human Health Technical Earle Bessey Working Group E.D. Bessey & Son/Timber Products Ecologicial Technical Working Group Gregory Bogdan Thomas Cieslinski John Albright Department of Human Services Bureau of Parks and Recreation Private Consultant, Wildlife Management Rodney Bushway Ben Emory Michael Cline University of Maine/Biochemistry Land Conservation Consultant Maine Audubon Society Ronald Deprez Steve Evans Robert Cope Public Health Research Institute Maine Yankee/Environmental Engineering Champion International Richard Doherty, M.D. David Field David Courtemanch Foundation for Blood Reseach University of Maine/Forest Economics & Department of Environmental Protection Operations Analysis Philip Haines Gary Donovan OHS, Health and Environmental Marion Harris Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Testing Laboratory Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc./Case Worker

Franklin Eggert Edward Hayes, M.D. Mary Ann Hayes University of Maine/Horticultureretired Department of Human Services Maine Association of Planners, Dairy Farmer

Ivan Fernandez Bruce Hunter Dick Hill University of Maine/Forest Resources Department of Environmental Protection University of Maine/Energy Specialist

Anne Hayden Donald Magioncalda, M.D. Tom Howard Brunswick, Maine Kennebec Valley Medical Center Georgia-Pacific Corp.

Jeffrey Kahl Lisa Miller Jolan Ippolito University of Maine/Watershed Geochemistry Private Consultant, Health Behavior/ Sunday River Ski Resort Health Education Joseph Kelley Michael Kelly Maine Geological Survey Beverly Paigen Advanced Management Catalyst, Inc. The Jackson Laboratory Richard Langton Denise Lord Maine Department of Marine Resources Gary Patzlaff Maine Waste Management Agency Bath Iron Works Paul Leeper Fran Rudolf Eco-Analysts, Inc. Ellen Parr-Doering Maine Department of Economic & Department of Environmental Protection Community Development Carolyn Lepage Robert G. Gerber, Inc. James Smith Mary Smith ChemRisk Central Maine Power John !Artie Woodlot Alternatives, Inc. Brian Stetson Stewart Smith Great Northern Paper University of Maine/Economics Donald Mairs Maine Department of Agriculture Douglas Thompson William Stone University of Southern Maine/Epidemiology University of Maine/Psychology Janet S. McMahon The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter Marvin Schneiderman David Vail National Reseach Council, Board on Bowdoin College/Economics Thomas Saviello Environmental Studies and Toxicology International Paper James Vitelli Peter Washburn Retired Professor of English and John Sowles Natural Resources Council of Maine American Civilization Maine Department of Environmental Protection

BEST COPY AVAILABLE 3

sociatedwithkiss of biodiversity, ecosys-This topic includes issues such as waste tern fragmentation, community changegeneration and management costs, including loss of native plants and in- unsustainable levels of consumption, ex- Financial crease in exotics, toxic contamination ofcessive packaging, recycling and litter. wildlife, habitat destruction including ef-(The impacts associated with the releaseAnd Volunteer fects of clear cutting, loss of game andof contaminants from solid waste facili- non-game species, and wetlands loss. ties are discussed under "ContaminationSupport Alteration and Destruction of of Land," "Contamination of Surface Freshwater and Marine Ecosystems Water and Sediments," "Contamination The Project received financial contribu- Includes risks posed by physical andof Ground Water.") tions from Georgia-Pacific and Maine chemical changes to Maine's freshwater Generation and Disposal of Yankee this summer.The full list of and marine ecosystems. This topic includesHazardous Waste contributors to date includes the follow- risks associated with loss of biodiversity, Includes risks associated with the gen-ing organizations, foundations, businesses ecosystem fragmentation, hydrologic ma-eration and disposal of hazardous wastes.and government agencies: nipulation, community change includingThe topic includes issues such as waste loss of native species and increase in exot-generation and management costs, im- Georgia-Pacific: $2,000 ics, toxic contamination of fish and shell- pacts of uncontrolled hazardous substance Maine Yankee: $2,000 fish, habitat destruction, fisheries losses,sites, and household hazardous waste gen- and coastal wetlands loss. eration. (The impacts associated with the The Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust: $50,000 Degradation of Maine's Built release of contaminants from hazardous waste facilities and uncontrolled hazard- and Natural Landscape The Betterment Fund: $30,000 ous substance sites or during transporta- This topic examines issues such as loss The Davis Conservation tion are discussed under "Contamination of wildness; loss of Maine's rural charac- Foundation: $20,000 ter; townscape degradation; problemsof Land," "Contamination of Surface Water and Sediments," "Contamination The Nature Conservancy/ associated with urban growth; and the Maine Chapter: $5,000 loss of access to shoreline, beaches, publicof Ground Water.") lands, etc... Radiation The Environmental Protection Agency: $100,000 Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Includes risks posed by the generation, transportation and storage of high level Includes risks posed by the effects of The Steering Committee appreciates increased ultraviolet radiation because ofand low level radioactive wastes. This topic also includes risks posed by expo-this important financial support. In addi- damage to the earth's protective ozone layer. sure to electromagnetic fields. tion, technical assistance and support from Global Climate Change the Department of Environmental Pro- Includes risks posed by climate changes Food Safety tection and other state agencies is a criti- caused by the build-up of carbon dioxide Includes risks to food quality and safetycal contributor to the success of the Project. and other "greenhouse gasses" in thedue to contamination prior to processing.We also recognize that this kind of work atmosphere. This topic also includes aThis topic includes risks associated withwould not be possible without extensive discussion of the potential impacts of sea pesticide residues; use of hormones, drugs,volunteer support. Our technical work- level rise. growth accelerators; contamination ofing groups members have given their ex- fish and shellfish by heavy metals andpertise and 100s of hours to the Project. Generation and Disposal other chemical contaminants; red tide of Solid Waste Their efforts and expertise are greatly and paralytic shellfish poisoning; andappreciated. Includes risks posed by the generationcontamination of game species. and disposal of solid and special waste. Comparative Risk Analysis al._

SPRING/SIMMER 1994 SPRING 1995 considers what was learned about risks and Steering Committee invites groups with an Public and peer review of the technical working public values in the first phase of the Project, interest in the Project's work to take part in on- group reports. Steering Committee ranks issues additional public input, and the costs of various going roundtable discussions about the issues. according to relative risk based on final options for addressing the problems. information from the technical working groups. JANUARY 1996 WINTER 1 Steering Committee recommends priorities for The three technical working groups make their SUMMER/FALL 1995 changto in environmental policy. initial reports to the Steering Committee and the Project examines current and potential public. management strategies. This examination BEST COPYAVAILABLE 67 4

(continued from page 1) Don Sproul of the Maine CampgroundNational Audubon Society, Dusti Faucher information resources to be considered in Owners Association and Tim Ellis of Trel- of Friends of Presumpscot/Presumpscot the comparative risk analysis. lis. Dale Wheaton of the Maine SportingRiver Alliance and Mike Hill of the At- The Steering Committee appreciates Camp Association commented by mail. lantic Salmon Federation. the efforts of those who have participated On July20in Portland and July 21 in At the Bangor Roundtable concerns in Roundtables to date and those who we Bangor, the Project listened to the con-were brought up about the status and will be hearing from soon. cerns of environmental groups. Amongquality of freshwater fisheries; toxins in some of the concerns expressed in the land, air and water; the quality of water- Portland group were threats from dioxin,ways and groundwater; global warming; Staying In Touch radiation and toxins in the environment;and the alteration and destruction of the need for land conservation; and con- freshwater and marine ecosystems. Lack MEPP staff and Steering Committee servation of biodiversity. of planning in all areas of environmental members have made presentations to sev- Water quality, and in particular the need management also was an important eral groups in recent months about the to improve local wastewater systems, was theme in the Bangor discussion. Project's work and the comparative risk seen as important. Air quality also was Participants in the discussion included process in general. seen as an important and especially chal- Phil Marletti of Citizens Against Nuclear Among just some of these sessions: lenging issue to manage because of itsDumps, Ron Huber of the Coastal Wa- Steering Committee members and Project scope and lack of definition. The groupters Project, Brenda Smith of Friends of staff have attended meetings of the Agri- identified the spending of Maine's envi-the Environment, Robert Phipps of the cultural Council of Maine and visited the ronmental capital and resources for short-Coalition for Sensible Energy, Richard Lakeville Camp Owners Association in term gain as a fundamental issue. ThereKomp of the Maine Solar Energy Asso- Lakeville. A Project staff person also met was a strong feeling that the lack of anyciation, Jim Freeman of the Mt. Blue with the Georges River Tidewater Asso- system to fully account for all impacts on Coalition, Don Shields of the Penobscot ciation in Thomaston. environmental quality is central to many River Coalition and Joseph Spaulding of These meetings are a vital way for the environmental problems. the National Audubon Society. Project to stay in touch with interested Participants in the discussion included Roundtables to be held this fall will parties as the process moves forward. John der Kinderen of the Land Stewardsinclude representatives of health profes- Please call Cynthia Bertocci or Karl Trust, Bill Linnell of the Committee for a sions, small businesses, agriculture and Wilkins at287-6843or write the MEPP Safe Energy Future, Rudy Engholm of thefisheries. These discussions are provid- at State House Station#17,Augusta, ME, Environmental Air Force, Don Hudsoning a rich information resource for the 04333if your organization is interested in of the Chewonki Foundation and theProject, including recommendations on hearing from a MEPP speaker.

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