Timber and wildlife habitat management plans should be implemented consistent with these goals. The policy supporting port development at Portland and Eastport, and at an improved facility on Mack Point in Searsport, must be consistent with these principles. Among the ideas the group is exploring is whether the island could become part of the federal refuge program, which pays a fee to the town in lieu of taxes. Other ideas include siting an environmental study and research center on the island. An earlier effort by the King Administration to obtain legislative support for a bond issue to raise the funds was rejected.
Many uncertainties still plague the island's future.
But the effort by conservation groups and affected communities to talk about common interests will be one of the high points of New England's longest running environmental dispute. These meetings have been covered heavily in the local press. It is encouraging that they are talking, and impressive that they concur in principle on key elements of the future of the island.