Rumors of a wealthy landowner swirl after hiking land closes near Moosehead Lake

By Zara Norman, Bangor Daily News Staff

Rumors of a super-wealthy landowner are circulating after a newcomer closed a prime piece of hiking land along Moosehead Lake and began building a large waterfront home.

“It’s what everyone is wondering,” said Joe Babbitt, the select board chair in Beaver Cove, a town of just over 130 people. “There’s all kinds of gossip out there, saying it’s everyone from the sultan of Egypt to ‘insert your billionaire of choice here.’”

The owner bought four parcels totaling more than 1,400 acres for $8.1 million in 2022 through two holding companies in a transaction that included Burnt Jacket Mountain and its trail system, which was closed to the public last October, along with 12,000 feet of lake frontage. The new owner applied for a permit last year to build a 3,750-square-foot home in the center of a large lot.

Moosehead Lake has long been a second-home destination for wealthy buyers, who often seek anonymity by doing their business through companies. This situation is notable because the three-year-old purchase has led to prized recreational land closing and prompted significant buzz in the community.

“We haven’t heard much on it other than that it’s sold; we don’t know why or for what purpose,” Beverly Burgess, owner of the nearby Lodge at Moosehead Lake in Greenville, said. “There was some chatter initially when it sold, gossip, in the area that it could be someone wealthy, a corporation, someone looking to build a resort.”

The land around Burnt Jacket Mountain has always been privately owned. That is typical in Maine, where 95 percent of the forest is privately owned with half of that open to the public. The Beaver Cove land was historically owned by paper companies that allowed the public to use it for recreation, Carla Ritchie, president of the Moosehead Regional Land Trust, said.

As paper mills waned, land was sold in smaller parcels to forestry companies and private owners. McPherson Timberlands of Hermon, the preceding owner of this land, still allowed the public to access the mountain and trails but subdivided it and tried to sell off parcels starting in the late 2000s, noted Jesse Studley, a Hampden-based land appraiser.

A listing website for the land billed it as “Burnt Jacket at Moosehead Lake: True luxury living in the rustic beauty of Maine,” and boasted its “very low” taxes. McPherson Timberlands did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did a Washington, D.C., lawyer that was listed as the representative for the two companies that bought the land.

The sudden decision to close the land to the public has saddened residents and caused concern for local businesspeople like Burgess, who rely on recreation to attract customers. Residents are also concerned about the possibility of a large housing subdivision, sprawling lodge or “big scab” on the mountain, Babbitt said. 

“Burnt Jacket was a [close-to-town] locals’ gem, this loss definitely stings to hiking enthusiasts that have used the trails time and time again over the years,” Steve Yocom, executive director of Destination Moosehead Lake, wrote in an email. “We are not quite sure what is going on over there yet, there has been a lot of privacy around the topic.”

There are already several built-out lots around the lake’s perimeter in Beaver Cove, which has “barebones infrastructure” and no code enforcement, Babbitt noted. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a 75 percent boom in home values in Greenville, which was singled out in a Wall Street Journal article on Maine’s lakes drawing wealthy second homeowners.

Those seeking answers about this one will come up short for now. Whoever bought the parcel has clearly made privacy a priority, Rodney Folsom Jr., a Greenville-area real estate agent, said. Ritchie of the land trust wants to know the landowner’s identity so her organization can work with them to preserve public access to the mountain and its trails.

“Somebody came to a select board meeting early on to ask what the town was doing about it: Well, nothing,” Babbitt said. “The number of facts are few and the number of speculation is huge and rampant.”