WILLOW CREEK — A state forestry survey completed last week has confirmed that the upper Willow River watershed contains one of the last significant stands of virgin white oak remaining in northern Maine, a discovery sure to reignite discussion of the proposed hardwood flooring mill.
The survey, conducted over three weeks by state forester Jeremiah B. Coffin, identified an estimated two million board feet of merchantable white oak and hard maple in the townships north of Willow Creek. White oak, the survey notes, is the preferred species for both shipbuilding and flooring.
“Ezra Thorne would have given anything for this timber forty years ago,” observed Elias Homan. “White oak is what Thorne & Sons used for its best vessels. But the yard is gone and the railroad is here. The same oak that once built sloops can now be planed into flooring and shipped south on the Bangor & Aroostook line.”
The survey’s findings lend weight to the mill proposal. Asa Pendleton’s plan depends on a reliable timber supply. The survey suggests that supply exists.
Not everyone is enthusiastic. Ezra Thorne II pointed out that white oak built the Thorne fleet. “My grandfather’s vessels were built from the very trees Mr. Coffin has now counted,” he said. “Those trees are part of this town’s heritage. They should not be fed into a planer for strangers in Boston.”
But the railroad that ties Willow Creek to distant markets makes Thorne’s argument difficult to sustain. The same line that brought Mr. Coffin to Willow Creek would carry the finished flooring to the cities.