Several of Maine’s leading conservation organizations have filed an appeal with the state’s Board of Environmental Protection, challenging Central Maine Power’s conservation plan for the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line.
The groups say the plan falls short of protecting mature forests in western Maine as required under CMP’s permit.
The appeal, filed by the Appalachian Mountain Club, Maine Audubon, Natural Resources Council of Maine and Trout Unlimited, argues that CMP’s plan prioritizes heavily logged areas rather than true mature forests, potentially setting a troubling precedent for future development projects.
“The best way to avoid a bad precedent is to not set it in the first place,” the groups wrote. If the Department of Environmental Protection’s approval is left unchanged, they said, it could signal that substandard environmental mitigation is acceptable.
According to the appeal, CMP’s plan contains significant shortcomings. The 50,000 acres selected for conservation contain very little ecologically mature forest, and much of the remaining older forest is scheduled to be harvested within the next 12 years.
CMP’s definition of “mature forest” is inconsistent with federal and ecological standards, and its “shifting mosaic” management strategy leaves nearly all of the area open to future harvesting.
Two forest blocks fail to meet the 5,000-acre individual block requirement because roads and transmission lines cut through them, meaning the overall 50,000-acre target is not fully met. The plan would also take nearly 50 years before trees reach heights typically associated with mature forests, delaying benefits for wildlife.
Conservation organization leaders say these shortcomings threaten habitat for species such as wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler, which rely on mature forests.
The appeal seeks to ensure CMP actually meets its legal obligations to mitigate the fragmentation caused by the NECEC line.
“This transmission line has already fragmented valuable habitat,” said Luke Frankel, staff scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “The Board of Environmental Protection must ensure CMP’s conservation plan meets the clear requirements in the permit.”
CMP’s 145-mile NECEC line, including a 53-mile corridor through undeveloped woods, carries hydroelectric power from Quebec to Massachusetts and is expected to come fully online by the end of 2025. The appeal does not seek to halt the project, only to ensure proper mitigation for environmental impacts.
It is timely because CMP’s conservation plan was only recently approved by the Department of Environmental Protection in November, giving the Board of Environmental Protection the opportunity to review it before long-term forest damage occurs. The board now has the option to affirm, amend or overturn the department’s approval.
