Bangor Daily News Article

Saddleback Ski Area officials and National Park Service representatives in talks this week narrowed their Appalachian Trail negotiations to three major issues, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said Thursday.

‘‘The talks come down to three major issues — trail crossings, high-elevation ski lifts and water withdrawal,’’ Dave Lackey of Snowe’s Washington, D.C., office said.

‘‘We hope to address these major issues and select other options from a menu of smaller issues,’’ he said.

The two parties, which have been meeting in Washington, D.C., and at Saddleback Mountain in Maine, have scheduled another round of negotiations for July 25 in Boston. Congressional aides plan to attend the sessions, as well, Lackey said.

Snowe hosted a meeting between the two parties in her Washington office Thursday to further the negotiations. Representatives of Snowe, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Rep. John Baldacci monitored the meeting.

Saddleback Vice President Katherine H. Breen, the ski area’s chief negotiator, and Appalachian National Scenic Trail Park Manager Pamela Underhill were among the negotiators at Thursday’s meeting, Lackey added.

The parties are considering land acquisition options for protecting the 3ñ-mile stretch of the AT across Saddleback Mountain in western Maine.

Of the three major points for negotiation, the issue of water withdrawal comes from the question of how much water from the mountainside of Eddy Pond the ski area can take for making artificial snow.

Also, the NPS has been concerned about hikers on the AT seeing ski lift towers at high elevations, Lackey said.

‘‘The question is whether they [ski lifts] will be permitted, and how many,’’ he added.

Earlier this month, NPS officials, ski area representatives and congressional aides met at Saddleback Mountain to explore the area for potential new hiking routes.

‘‘They did walk the south side of the mountain,’’ Lackey said.

An alternate route proposed by Saddleback is a new option to the five land-use choices originally presented in the NPS’ environmental assessment of 1999. The original options provided points for discussions, Lackey pointed out.

Negotiators have met five times since last November to resolve the conflict.

Since 1978, the park service has been acquiring land to protect the Appalachian Trail, and by 1998, most of the trail was protected. Saddleback Ski Area has been fighting with the park service for the past 16 years over protection of the AT.

The park service is legally responsible for the trail, a 2,160-mile footpath from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin. Nationally, 26 miles remain in private ownership, including the 3ñ miles across Saddleback.

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