Maine Land Being Protected

I don't exactly get this, but the Bangor Daily News of 17 January 2007 has an article by Kevin Miller which says that the "Land for Maine's Futures" is purchasing "a conservation easement on the Katahdin Iron Works property owned by the Appalachian Mountain Club." "The property is bisected by a section of the Appalachian Trail that leads to Gulf Hagas, a popular waterfall. Though the trail and Gulf Hagas are not on AMC land, they both are protected under earlier conservation agreements."

What I don't get is why AMC wouldn't pretty automatically have a conservation easement on its property.

There are some revved up snowmobilers (pun intended) who don't want the purchase to go through. The easement will close some trails to them. "AMC’s decision to set aside 10,000 of the 37,000 acres as an ecological reserve angered snowmobilers who used several now-closed trails in the reserve. Snowmobiling is still permitted on trails in the remaining 27,000 acres and the easement contains language guaranteeing a snowmobile corridor through the property connecting Greenville and Brownville." They say it will be yet another blow to Maine's economy.

Naturally, the conservationists are focusing on things like the "unadulterated, wild population of brook trout and rare plants."