Sears Island Affinity Group Proposes Recipe for Prosperity

 In a win/win scenario for jobs and preservation, today a group of participants in the Sears Island Planning Initiative announced their proposal, “Preservation and Port: a Recipe for Prosperity.”  

The Sears Island Planning Initiative is uniquely charged by the Baldacci Administration with developing recommendations for the future use of the 940-acre island in Penobscot Bay. If implemented, the recommendations could end thirty years of public controversy. As part of its process, participants in the planning initiative are creating “affinity groups” to present different visions in the range of potential futures for the island. 

“Preservation and Port: a Recipe for Prosperity” has been developed by an affinity group that is interested in balancing the economic needs of Maine while protecting the ecological and outdoor recreation resources of Sears Island and Penobscot Bay. 

“Preservation and Port: a Recipe for Prosperity” embraces the expansion of Mack Point to enhance that important resource, while also permanently protecting Sears Island as an educational and recreational asset. 

 In order to support the Department of Transportation's Three Port Strategy, the group encourages full utilization of Mack Point, using best available management practices, to address the financial needs of Searsport and its transportation connections with Central and Northern Maine.  Current economic and shipping information indicates that Mack Point has the potential to satisfy all marine transportation needs of Maine’s central region for the foreseeable future.

The affinity group also recommends that the entirety of Sears Island be conserved, and that trails and management facilities be improved to fulfill its future as a regional ecotourism asset, also supporting the local economy. The Port supported; the Island protected -- A Win/Win scenario.