FORT KENT, Maine – Maine’s inland mountains such as Katahdin, Bigelow, Moxie, Blue, Deboulie and Saddleback support hundreds of miles of hiking trails, camping opportunities and wildlife habitat providing countless recreational and sporting opportunities.

Some in the state fear that those opportunities could be nothing more than memories if residents do not take a more active role in preserving those resources.

To bring attention to Maine’s mountains as recreational and cultural resources, the Maine Mountain Heritage Project is sponsoring a writing contest, “Voices From Maine’s Mountains,” and is accepting submissions of stories, poems and essays dealing with outdoor activities including hiking, fishing, hunting, canoeing, skiing, vacationing or living on or near the mountains of Maine.

“Maine’s mountains and wild places are being lost at an alarming rate,” said Fort Kent resident Penny Gray, of the Maine Mountain Heritage Project. “They are facing growing pressure from development — most notably from the recent push for mountaintop industrial wind development.”

Many Mainers, she said, have mountain memories to share and all are invited to submit those memories.

“We’re looking for year-round and seasonal Mainers, young and old, who have a story to tell about the mountains they love,” said Gray, co-owner of Freeport’s Harraseeket Inn and published author. “We want to create a lasting legacy that honors our mountain heritage and the important role these special landscapes have played in our lives.”

Members of the heritage project fear Maine’s iconic mountains are under siege and are looking to tap into people’s memories and feelings about them before it is too late.

“We believed it was time to make people aware and to document what we have before it is gone,” Gray said. “People need to care because once these mountains are blasted and cut to make way for development, we will never get them back.”

Gray points to the state’s goal of installing 2,700 megawatts of wind generating capacity by 2020 through large mountaintop turbines, as one of the major threats.

“Very few people realize that this means destroying 300 to 400 miles of Maine mountains [and] clear-cutting thousands of acres of working forests,” she said. “If this development moves ahead as planned, there will be very few undeveloped mountains left in Maine by 2020.”

Tourism, Gray pointed out, is the state’ largest industry pumping more than $10 billion into the economy annually.

“Tourism from hikers and leaf peepers to fishermen and deer hunters is the only thing that keeps many rural Maine towns alive,” she said. “If we lose our mountains and wild places that traditional economy will die.”

Members of the Maine Mountain Heritage Project, Gray said, hope their writing contest inspires people to take an active interest in preserving the state’s mountains.

“At the very least these essays and poems will help preserve a piece of Maine that our children and grandchildren may never get to know,” she said.

The deadline for submissions is June 1. All submissions will be published online, and the winning entries will be compiled in book form and released to the public. Chosen essays will be announced in October.

Any photographs sent should not be originals and electronic copy preferred. Entries, contact information and a brief bio may be sent to Maine Mountain Heritage Project, C/O Harraseeket Inn, 162 Main St., Freeport 04032, or emailed to harraseeke@aol.com.

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http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/04/06/outdoors/maine’s-mountain...