HIGHLIGHT: MAINE
North Maine Woods: Officials are close to finalizing a land use agreement that supporters said would protect one of the most rural corners of the country from overdevelopment years after environmentalists raised concerns about McMansions rising in the area. The land use plan is an outgrowth of a yearslong debate about a large development once planned for Maine’s remote North Woods area. Timber company Weyerhaeuser once planned to build two resorts and about 1,000 home lots there, but scrapped the idea in 2019, citing economic concerns. State officials then began a new public process focused on steering growth in the area toward existing service centers such as Greenville and Rockwood.