Shocker in the Maine Woods

Photo by Dennis Redfield

The proposal by the Plum Creek Timber Company to develop thousands of acres of forestland around Moosehead Lake ran into an unexpected roadblock today:

A Maine judge on Thursday halted Plum Creek’s rezoning plan for the Moosehead Lake region and ordered regulators to reopen hearings on one of the largest and most controversial development proposals in state history.

Maine Superior Court Justice Thomas Humphrey did not comment on the substance of Plum Creek’s massive plan for nearly 1,000 houses and two resorts in the Moosehead region — a point that supporters of Plum Creek’s proposal noted Thursday.

Rather, Humphrey invalidated the Land Use Regulation Commission’s decision on procedural grounds, saying commissioners did not follow their own rules and voted on a substantially rewritten rezoning application without first holding a public hearing.

Plum Creek’s supporters argue that the 975 houses and two resorts — to be developed over as many as 30 years — will create jobs and economic development in an area of the state where opportunities are few and many families struggle to make ends meet. Additionally, the conservation deals negotiated as part of the proposal will protect more than 400,000 acres of forestland, most of which will remain open to recreational activities and commercial timber harvesting.

But critics contend the houses, resorts and resulting traffic will mar the scenic beauty that makes Moosehead unique. They also warned that LURC’s decision set a dangerous precedent, allowing Plum Creek to benefit financially from the development as well as the conservation easements or land sales to conservation groups.

Plum Creek's plan, if enacted, would constitute the largest real estate development in Maine history, so you can imagine the emotions it has stirred up. For my part, I've been skeptical that the economic benefits to the Greenville region could ever live up to Plum Creek's promises. Moosehead is so distant from the East Coast's major population centers. I've always wondered who would drive six hours on poorly maintained back roads from Boston to play golf among the biting black flies. Maybe more people than I imagine. Nor do I have any idea what Judge Humphrey's decision will mean for Plum Creek or Moosehead Lake. I suspect I'm not alone in that regard.

"One Hellacious Ride"

Kirkus Reviews has weighed in with a review (link to come) of Trespasser:

Seven years after a trial sent a police suspect up for murder, a disturbingly similar new killing reopens the case, dragging Maine game warden Mike Bowditch along for one hellacious ride.

The review calls the book "a complex, heartfelt, altogether impressive piece of work." That's exactly what I'd hoped for!

Maine Festival of the Book

The paperback of The Poacher's Son doesn't officially arrive in stores until April 12, but I signed some advance copies this weekend at the Maine Festival of the Book in Portland. The paperback sports a new cover design and includes an excerpt from my next book, Trespasser, as an added bonus. I'm biased, but I think it looks pretty slick.

How Do You Pronounce Doiron, Anyway?

One of the most common questions I am asked is how I pronounce my name. I published this explanation last year but have decided to run it again since it remains a source of confusion.

When you grow up with an uncommon surname, mispronunciation is a lifelong companion. Doiron is a French name. There are lots of Franco-Americans in my home state of Maine. The name refers to the village of Oiron in the Poitou region of France. Long ago, one of my ancestors somehow acquired the surname d'Oiron. In the language of Michel de Montagne, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Chevalier this translates as "from the flyspeck of Oiron." Somewhere over the centuries, the apostrophe was misplaced, and we all became Doirons. I doubt it ever occurred to the original Monsieur d'Oiron that his American descendants would spend their lives suffering through endless mispronunciations of his elegant monicker.

In my life I've been called just about everything: Doron, Dyer, Drier, Dye-run, Dry-run. The most common variant was, and is, Dorian (as in Gray). The American tongue has difficulty wrapping itself around the French diphthong. I am sympathetic to this handicap although I sometimes wonder how Agatha Christie managed to create a world-famous Belgian detective with a surname almost identical to my own, and yet somehow hostesses in restaurants continue to page me as, "Darren, party of two."

So Hercule Poirot has been of no help. (Sometimes, I fancy that if ever I have a son I will name him Hercule. Either that or Elvis Aaron. One or the other.) The truth is I respond to nearly any sound that roughly approximates the six letters in my name. Shout Doo-run-run! and I'll know you mean me.

In fact, my name has been mispronounced so regularly, in so many different ways, that I have stopped bothering to correct people. What does it matter, after all? I know you bear me no malice when you call me "Paul Do-iron." That pronunciation isn't so far off the mark actually. I'll take it over most of the alternatives.

My great aunt Oline (pronounced O-lean, like the no-fat cooking oil) used to pronounce our last name Dwerron. Being much older and Frencher than me gave her considerable authority on the matter. But asking your average American to look at the name Doiron and make that mental leap—"Oh, of course, it's Dwerron, like that dwarf from Middle Earth!"—seems like an unreasonable expectation to me. 

Truth be told, not all of us Doirons pronounce our names the same anyway. I’m sure I have a distant cousin who calls herself Darien, like the Connecticut township. And who am I to say she's wrong. It's her name as well as mine.

For the record, though, it’s Dwarren.

Maine Warden Pilot Dies in Crash

This is a tragedy:

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is saddened to report the death of Maine Warden Service Pilot Daryl Gordon.

Pilot Gordon died in a plane crash on Clear Lake on Thursday night. He was located this morning after a night-long search that included his friends with the Maine Warden Service, Maine Forest Service, Maine State Police, Customs and Border Protection – Houlton Air Branch, U.S. Border Patrol and Civil Air Patrol.

Maine Warden Service Col. Joel Wilkinson and Commissioner Chandler Woodcock will conduct a press conference at 3:30 p.m. today at the Bangor office of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, located at the Dorothea Dix complex off Hogan Road.

Pilot Gordon is a 25-year veteran of the Maine Warden Service whose aerial search-and-rescue efforts brought countless people home to loved ones. He is the 15th Game Warden to die in line of duty in the Maine Warden Service’s 130-year history.

No other information is available at this time.

My deepest condolences to Pilot Gordon's friends, family, and colleagues in the Warden Service.