ALLAGASH BUREAU OF PARKS AND LANDS WILDERNESS The northward natural flow of Allagash waters from Telos Lake to the St. John River presented a challenge to Bangor landowners and inves- WATERWAY tors who wanted to float logs from land around Chamberlain and Telos By Matthew LaRoche lakes southward to mills along the . So, they reversed the flow by building two dams in 1841. magnificent 92-mile-long ribbon of interconnected lakes, CHURCHILL DAM raised the water

ponds, rivers, and streams flowing through the heart of MAHOOSUC GUIDE SERVICE level and Telos Dam controlled the Maine’s vast northern forest, the Allagash Wilderness water release and logs down Webster Waterway (AWW) features unbroken shoreline on the Stream and eventually to Bangor. headwater lakes and free-flowing river along the lower Chamberlain Dam was later modified waterway. The AWW’s rich culture includes use by to include a lock system so that logs Indigenous people for millennia and a colorful logging history. cut near could be floated to the Bangor lumber market. In 1966, the Maine Legislature established the AWW to preserve, The AWW provides visitors with a true wilderness experience, with limited protect, and enhance this unique area’s wilderness character. vehicle access and restrictions on motorized watercraft. Some 100 primitive

Four years later, the AWW garnered designation as a wild river campsites dot the shorelines, and anglers from all over New England come to MATT LAROCHE THE TRAMWAY HISTORIC in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (NWSR). This the waterway in the spring and fall to fish for native brook trout, whitefish, and DISTRICT, which is listed on the year marks 50 years of federal protection under the NWSR Act. togue (lake trout), and to ice fish in the winter. National Register of Historic Places, includes two 100-ton locomotives that sit a couple hundred feet from the shore of Eagle Lake, seemingly dropped into the wilderness. The Here are a few highlights from the survey: VISITOR USE SURVEY tramway located near the trains is During the late spring, summer, and fall a 3,000-foot mechanical system of 2019, the AWW partnered with the once used to move logs between 94% 86% 90% Eagle and Chamberlain lakes. The ’s School of Forest reported to have of visitors reported of visitors rated materials to build the tramway were Resources to conduct a survey of visitors seen bald eagles. their experience natural environment brought to Greenville by train during to the waterway. The visitors were asked The other most as very good and experiences or the summer of 1902. They were questions on their method of travel, common wildlife seen 82% conditions as “very of visitors used a transported the length of Moosehead length of stay, and camping conditions were moose (84%), important,” followed canoe without a 13% Lake by steamboat, then hauled encountered. The study provides loons (84%), of visitors reported by exploration and motor, followed by a along the shore of the Upper West baseline data and the ability to monitor blue herons their experience as remoteness (82%), no canoe with a motor Branch of the Penobscot, across the stewardship efforts in protecting visitor (44%), osprey good, highlighting litter or waste (77%), 49% (11%), a kayak (11%), northern end of , experiences on the AWW, to recognize of visitors were (37%), and clean sites, solitude personal and social and a boat with a across Mud Pond Carry and finally successful management efforts, and to from Maine followed deer (33%). and remoteness, experiences (66%), motor (4%). up to the tramway identify areas that may need attention by Massachusetts scenic and natural and solitude (64%). by horses pulling sleds. to improve the quality of the experience. (12%), Connecticut Watercraft type/use is beauty, peace and Hunting, fishing, and The full report will be available on the (7%), New York (4%), carefully regulated by quiet, and good gathering were viewed AWW conditions and alerts page at and Vermont (4%). AWW rule. weather. as very important by maine.gov/allagash in January 2021. 21% of visitors.

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation recently published Allagash Explorer, a pocket guide that explains and highlights the cultural This visitor survey was funded by a grant from the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation and the University of Maine. Matt LaRoche is Superintendent of the Allagash history and natural resources of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway from its earliest times to the present. See AWWF.ORG for more Wilderness Waterway, a Registered Maine Guide, and an avid outdoorsman. He can be reached at (207) 695-2169 or at [email protected]. information and a list of locations where Allagash Explorer can be purchased.

34 Northern Woodlands / Winter 2020 Northern Woodlands celebrates northeastern forests and the people who care for them. Northern Woodlands / Winter 2020 35 Subscribe or donate at northernwoodlands.org.