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In this issue...
Upcoming Conferences & Events, Spring 2004
Don't miss out on these exciting opportunities, visit our website to learn more:
*Promise of Place Educational Conference, March 25-27
*Regional Conference: Maximizing Shared Assets in Western Maine, April 29
*Maine's Creative Economy:
A Blaine House Conference,
May 6-7
*Maine Tourism Association's 83rd Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon, May 11 |
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Join the Network
Interested in joining the Network? It's quick, easy, and free. Just fill out the form on our website to sign up now. |
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Contact Us Today
To Learn More:
Mountain Counties Heritage
P.O. Box 508
Farmington ME 04938
(207) 778-3885
info@mainemountains.org
*Mountain Counties Heritage serves as the coordinating agency for the Maine Mountain Heritage Network. |
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Celebrating Maine's Mountain Heritage
Welcome to the March Edition of Network News!
Network
News is the official e-Newsletter of the Maine Mountain Heritage
Network. Published once a month, it's filled with updates and articles
about what is happening in the Maine Mountain Heritage Area. If you
want to learn more about the Network visit our website at www.mainemountains.org, or call the Network's coordinating agency, Mountain Counties Heritage, at (207) 778-3885.
We welcome your story ideas! E-mail us at info@mainemountains.org.
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Community Investment Program Gets Underway
By Bruce Hazard, Mountain Counties Heritage
A
new information center! A kayak training course! A revitalized theater!
New retail establishments! What do all of these projects have in common?
Communities
throughout the Maine Mountain Heritage Area were recently asked what
projects they thought would best position them to take advantage of the
regional development and marketing activities now being proposed by the
Maine Mountain Heritage Network. (To see the Network’s plan, go to www.mainemountains.org
and look under Network.) The projects noted above were only a few of
those identified. The Network is now actively seeking funding and other
support to make these projects happen!.
 Community investment as part of a regional strategy.
As a part of its regional development strategy, the Maine Mountain
Heritage Network early on identified a need for investment at the local
level. To help make most effective use of limited resources, the
steering committee agreed to focus a first phase of investment on a
limited number of “hub” or service center communities. The committee
felt that investment in these communities held the greatest promise for
achieving desired regional outcomes in the near term, and success in
these communities could stimulate heritage-based development in
surrounding local areas as well.
Preliminary scoping meetings in
eight communities revealed a wide range of project ideas and investment
needs in resource conservation, infrastructure and business development
and marketing. The Economic Development District agencies now working
with Mountain Counties Heritage, Inc. to define the Network’s Community
Investment Program have identified two areas of interest that were
shared across several communities. One was trail and greenspace
planning. A second was downtown revitalization. The EDDs are now
considering program approaches to address these interests on a
multi-regional basis. In the meantime, the communities themselves are
moving ahead on many fronts.
Skowhegan leads the way!
Several communities are moving ahead with planning efforts, and in a
few cases, development projects are already underway. In Skowhegan, the
initial scoping meeting has sparked renewed interest in collaboration
among a number of community groups, and early discussions have already
yielded an informal but highly integrated development plan combining a
number of projects.
 The
Skowhegan group decided to key on the Run of River project, a new
effort to use the spectacular Skowhegan Gorge for whitewater sport and
rescue training. The group discussed orienting a number of other
projects around this effort to generate new social and economic
benefits from the natural and recreational values of the Kennebec.
Associated projects, some new and some in the planning stages for
several years, include a proposal for a visitor center, ideas for
retail development in the downtown, expanding an existing trail and
greenspace system, and a linked system of historical sites and museums
many of which tell stories associated with the gorge itself.
We look forward to reporting on activities in other communities in future issues of the Network News! |
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 Surprise Mention in the Boston Globe!
The Maine Mountain Heritage Area visitor website, www.visitmainemountains.com, which is funded in part by the Maine Department of Transportation, received an unexpected boost in the Boston Sunday Globe
last month (February 15, 2004 issue). Under the heading "Maine's
mountain region beckons to flatlanders," writer Jane Roy Brown said the
site "serves as map, compass, and trip planner for travelers who always
wanted to venture beyond the Maine coast but didn’t know quite where to
begin." Visits to the website did spike immediately after this mention.
Marketing and Communications committee member Nancy Marshall spotted
this article and brought it to our attention. Thanks Nancy! |
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 March 2004 Network Update
Information center meeting set for April 12.
The Network seeks to establish a well coordinated system of information
centers throughout the region. Several centers already exist and
several more are proposed. Centers are intended to serve both residents
and visitors by providing a range of information about the history and
the natural history of local areas as well as information about fun
things to do and goods and services available locally. A meeting of
representatives from existing and proposed centers will occur on April
12 in Farmington at UMF. The purpose will be to share information about
individual projects and to identify opportunities for cooperation and
funding. Contact Bruce Hazard bhazard@mainemountains.org for more about this meeting if you would be interested in participating.
Recreation planning moves forward.
Although funding for the landscape analysis work being undertaken by
the UMO School of Forestry group was temporarily frozen in January,
spring thaw now allows that part of the project to move forward. Also
Marcel Polak of Spruce Mountain has proposed formation of a team to
create a recreation development framework for the region which is to be
circulated for review and feedback next fall. Meanwhile, major
recreation development projects are moving forward, including fund
raising and planning for the Appalachian Mountain Club's Maine Woods
Initiative.
Marketing plan focusing on tourism and products of the region.
March is the month to finalize our plan to market the Maine Mountain
Heritage Area. Recent interviews with product manufacturers and food
producers have added to our understanding of new market and branding
opportunities. Although this information is intended to inform
marketing efforts across the region over the long term, our immediate
aim is to select one to three key recommendations and act on them this
spring and summer.
Heritage area brochure now available.
The Network now has an information brochure to explain its heritage
area initiative to potential participants (this is not a visitor
brochure). It includes photography and images created by artists from
the region and was designed by Victor and Marjorie Cormier of New
Sharon. The brochure was distributed at the New England Products Trade
Show and also at the Governor's Tourism Conference this week. To
request copies for your group (they're free and will be of interest to
businesses, non-profits, and government groups), contact Erika Bohlman ebohlman@mainemountains.org.
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 STATE YOUR OPINION! Land For Maine's Future Proposal
February Polling Question Results
The results are in from February’s polling question in the Maine Mountain Heritage Network Forum. To review, we asked whether or not you agree with the following proposal:
A
coalition of more than 175 organizations has formed to promote the
passage of a significant land bond in 2004. The bond would fund the 16
year old Land for Maine's Future Program. For information about the
proposal go to http://www.mainelandbond.org/index.htm.
100% of voters were in favor of this proposal. We would like to say thanks to all 4 people who took the time to vote! |
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 Under the Microscope
By Jennifer Kierstead, Public Service Communications
Many
facets of the Maine Mountain Heritage Area’s four counties have been
studied over the past decade, among them, its geography, natural
resources, farms, cultural heritage, tourism industry, and home-based
businesses. Now Dover-Foxcroft in Piscataquis County and Norway-South
Paris in Oxford County join Bangor and the St. John Valley as two of
four case studies included in a study of the creative economy in Maine
now underway.
Findings will be presented at the upcoming Blaine House Conference on the Creative Economy. (To register, visit Blaine House Conference on Maine's Creative Economy.)The
study is a cooperative venture among the Center for Business and
Economic Research, University of Southern Maine, the Northeastern
University Department of Economics, and the New England Foundation for
the Arts.
Visit Creative Economy Council
for more information on New England’s creative economy and the
business, government and cultural partnership that is promoting its
development. |
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 Project Spotlight: Maine WoodNet's SugarWood Gallery
Responsible Use Yields Profits
By Erika Bohlman, Mountain Counties Heritage
 Maine
WoodNet is helping small businesses in this region compete and thrive
in an increasingly global market for furniture and other forest
products.
A marketing and manufacturing network, Maine WoodNet
is comprised of 55 wood products businesses located in the Maine
Mountain Heritage Area. In November 2001, Maine WoodNet's Coordinator,
Chris Krauss, helped 15 Maine WoodNet members realize a dream of
selling their products in a gallery setting. The members formed a new
entity, SugarWood Gallery, Inc., which is cooperatively owned and
operated in downtown Farmington, Maine.
In July 2002, the
Maine WoodNet Certified Group became the second group in the world (and
the first group nationally) to attain a group chain-of-custody
certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) system. The
purpose of FSC standards is to preserve the land through sustainable
forest growth, harvesting techniques, and principles. Wood certified
under the FSC system has the distinction of coming from timberlands
that meet the highest standards of environmental, economic and social
responsibility.
For example, the owner of W.A. Mitchell, Dan Maxham, incorporated the
feedback of Governor John Baldacci to create a custom chair made out of
FSC-certified wood. W.A. Mitchell chairs are handcrafted with
traditional old world joinery using cherry wedging of legs and
spindles, and pegging of crests and seat backs. Maxham recently branded
it as the "Governor's Chair" and donated it to the State of Maine for
the Governor's use. "Our real emphasis is on quality and customer
satisfaction," says Maxham. The Governor appeared to be pleased with
the chair and stated, "If I have to be in my office for an afternoon, I
can't imagine a more comfortable chair to sit in."
No materials
go to waste in the Gallery; "scrap" wood that is not used by one
crafter is passed on to another to create a high quality saleable
product. According to Chris Krauss, "the Gallery is a superb example of
being able to turn low end wood into a high end value-added product. In
just over two years of operation, the Gallery has grossed a half
million in sales and is pleased to announce an expansion scheduled for
June 2004."
The Gallery's success confirms what The Wilderness
Society postulated in 1994: "It's not how many logs that come out of
the forest that's important - it's how many dollars come out of the
logs." To learn more about Maine WoodNet and the SugarWood Gallery contact Chris Krauss at mewood@megalink.net or (207) 778-9105. |
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February 2004 Edition Correction
The state agencies that make up the Maine Arts and Heritage Tourism Partnership include:
the Maine Arts Commission, Office of Tourism,
Humanities Council, Historic Preservation Commission, Department of
Agriculture, Department of Conservation, Department of Transportation,
and State Planning Office.
We apologize for the omission error in last month's article titled "February Network Update." |
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