APPENDIX A - EXISTING CONDITIONS IN THE PLAN AREA 1. THE PLAN AREA/OWNERSHIP The area included within the Concept Plan (Plan area) is approximately 51,015 acres in northern Aroostook County. The Plan area includes land within 6 unorganized townships: T17 R3, T17 R4, Cross Lake (T17 R5), T16 R4, T16 R5, and T15 R5. The closest organized towns are to the north of the Plan area: St. Agatha, Madawaska, and Frenchville. Grand Isle and Van Buren are to the east of the Plan area. New Sweden and Westmanland are to the south of the Plan area. Eagle Lake and New Canada are to the west of the Plan area. The Plan area includes substantial frontage on Long Lake, Mud Lake, Cross Lake, and Square Lake, as well as frontage along the thoroughfares that connect the lakes. The Plan area also encompasses Carry Pond, Dickey Pond, and Little California Pond, as well as several named and unnamed streams. The Plan area is traversed by two State roads (Route 161 and Route 162) and a network of forest management roads. The land within the Plan area is managed by Irving Woodlands LLC (Irving Woodlands), acting as agent for the owners of the property: Aroostook Timberlands LP, Allagash Timberlands LLC, and Maine Woodlands Realty Company (collectively referred to as Irving). Irving Woodlands presently manages approximately 1.3 million acres of forestland in northern Maine. Irving began expanding its ownership into the Plan area in Concept Plan area the 1980s when it acquired approximately 250,000 acres from International Paper Co. in the northern and eastern parts of Aroostook County. This area included townships from New Canada east to T16 R4, with some additional land in St. Francis and Allagash. In 1985 Irving purchased additional lands from Great Northern Paper in the northeastern part of Maine. This area included Townships T17 R3, T17 R4, and T17 R5 along with acreage in Cyr Plantation, Grand Isle, and Hamlin. {W6006931.1}{W6006931.1}{W6006931.1} FISH RIVER CHAIN OF LAKES CONCEPT PLAN May 2017 When Irving acquired the woodland assets from International Paper and Great Northern, it also acquired approximately 425 existing camp lots in the Plan area: 150 on Long Lake, 19 on the Mud/Cross thoroughfare, 237 on Cross Lake, and 19 on Square Lake. Most of these camp lots pre-dated the creation of the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) and are typically less than one acre in size with approximately 150 feet of lake frontage. Irving Woodlands has continued International Paper’s and Great Northern’s policy of licensing or leasing these lots to individuals, some of whom have held such licenses and leases for decades. 2. FOREST RESOURCES AND USES The forestland managed by Irving in northern Maine is approximately 1.3 million acres, making it the largest land manager in the State of Maine. The property extends from the western border with Quebec to the eastern border with New Brunswick, with the majority of the land being in Aroostook County. Approximately 95% of Irving’s Maine land base is productive forestland. The remaining lands include non-forest areas such as roads, water, licensed/leased lots, wetlands, and a small amount of agricultural and industrial land. Irving is a leader in innovative forest management practices and is guided by sustainable forest management principles, which include the Outcome Based Forestry (OBF) approach of the Maine Forest Service. For more information on Irving’s sustainable forestry management practices in Maine and the OBF approach, see the response to Question 20 and Appendix D. 3. SOILS AND TOPOGRAPHY SOILS The lower areas in the Plan area adjacent to the lakes are generally moderately well to poorly drained glacial till soils with inclusions of water-worked and glacio-lacustrine material. The upper slopes are dominated by well-drained deep to moderately deep glacial till soils over bedrock-controlled landforms. Soil textures are generally loams and silt loams. The Natural Resources Conservation Service soil survey identified the soils in the Plan area as dominated by the “Plaisted-Howland-Monarda-Burnham” soil catena. A soil catena consists of soils with similar soil parent materials that occur over a repeatable pattern on the landscape. The soil map units are differentiated by slope, soil texture, stoniness, depth to bedrock, and a seasonally high water table. Field review by soils scientists indicates the presence of soil series and soil types other than what was mapped. For more information on the soils conditions within the Plan area, see Tab 8. TOPOGRAPHY The topography throughout the Plan area ranges from gently sloping areas and rolling topography to areas of significant slopes. Elevations range from a high of approximately 1,180 feet on the south side of Long Lake to a low point of about 580 feet at the southern end of Square Lake. Slopes were a major factor in siting designated development areas. VOLUME 1 – PETITION FOR REZONING 2 Appendix A – Existing Conditions in the Plan Area FISH RIVER CHAIN OF LAKES CONCEPT PLAN May 2017 4. WATER RESOURCES/WATER QUALITY LAKES, RIVERS, AND STREAMS LONG LAKE Existing Development. Long Lake is the third largest lake in Aroostook County (the largest is Grand Lake and the second largest is Square Lake). The shores of this approximately 6,000- acre lake are highly developed with seasonal camps, year-round residences, motor home parks, restaurants and motels, commercial and institutional buildings, and other related uses. There are approximately 775 structures on the water side of the roads that ring its roughly 33 miles of shoreline (including the large island at the north end of the lake). Irving owns approximately 4 miles of shore frontage at the southeastern end of the lake. Irving’s shore frontage consists of: Aerial view of west side of Long Lake • Developed shoreline: Irving has 150 licensed/leased camp lots, each with a seasonal or year-round residence directly on the water. The majority of the licensed/leased camp lots (112) are on East Van Buren Cove Road. The remaining 38 sites are located at the base of a hill on West Van Buren Cove Road. • Long Lake Beach: A roughly quarter-mile long sand beach extends from East Van Buren Cove Road to the confluence of Mud Brook. • Undeveloped shoreline: There is about 0.3 mile of undeveloped shoreline between the northern end of West Van Buren Cove Road and the Irving property line. Water Quality. At 163 feet deep at its deepest point, Long Lake is the deepest of the Fish River chain of lakes. The lake has average summer water temperatures of 65°F at the surface and 54°F at 150 feet. Long Lake has recently experienced some water quality degradation. Because of the recreational significance of the lake and sport fishery resource, this situation is being addressed through cooperative agreements with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and private groups. Water quality enhancement projects are being implemented throughout the entire drainage to help control and correct the degradation. LUPC Management Classification. Long Lake is approaching Management Class 5, Heavily Developed Status. “Heavily Developed” means the lake has fewer than 10 surface acres or fewer than 400 feet of lake frontage per dwelling unit. Under current LUPC zoning, the regulatory emphasis is on retaining the natural qualities of the remaining undeveloped land bordering the lake; any further shoreline development must be clustered. The Wildlands Lakes Assessment notes that Long Lake is accessible and developed and is assigned to Resource Class 1B (lakes of statewide significance with one outstanding resource value). The lake VOLUME 1 – PETITION FOR REZONING 3 Appendix A – Existing Conditions in the Plan Area FISH RIVER CHAIN OF LAKES CONCEPT PLAN May 2017 received a resource rating of “outstanding” for its botanical resources, and “significant” for its fisheries and cultural resources. MUD LAKE Existing Development. With a surface area of approximately 972 acres, Mud Lake is both the smallest and shallowest of the four lakes within the Plan area. Irving owns approximately 3.58 miles of shore frontage, all of which is undeveloped. There are over two dozen seasonal camps and permanent homes on the north shore of the lake that are accessed off Route 162 (Sinclair Road). The most prominent use of the surrounding area is a private campground with 56 campsites, 6 cabins, and a variety of outbuildings on 5.6 acres of land located on the north shore of the lake. The State is the second largest landowner with frontage on the lake, with a 304-acre Public Reserve Lot on the north side of the lake, known as the T17 R4 (Sinclair) Public Lot. This land is part of a series of small State holdings in northern Aroostook County that are managed primarily for timber production and dispersed recreation, such as hunting, fishing, camping, boating, snowmobiling, and ATV riding. The majority of Aerial view of Mud Lake the Sinclair Public Lot is on the north side of Route 162. In 1994, the State sold a 200-acre portion of the original lot to the Sinclair Sanitary District that provided the location for the wastewater treatment plant designed to address water quality issues in the Village of Sinclair. The 2,218 linear feet of frontage on Mud Lake is designated as a Wildlife Riparian Area under the Regional Management Plan. Water Quality. The lake has a mean depth of 11 feet and maximum depth of 20 feet. Wind mixing causes water temperatures to remain about equal at all depths throughout the summer (64°F at the surface and 63°F at 18 feet). The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) considers Mud Lake to have marginal habitat supporting cold-water sport fish seasonally.