Move from Alaska to Maine? (Bangor, Ellsworth: schools, camping, taxes)

[puff5655]

Okay folks. I've hit a snag..

Bethel and Farmington are both looking great to me. But I realized something is lacking that I forgot to mention- lakes.

I noted that my husband loves fishing but forgot to say he loves fishing from a BOAT on a lake. He was spoiled and grew up in Northern Wisconsin where he had his choice of ~10 prime fishing lakes within a 20 mile drive. It looks like there aren't any lakes in the Bethel area. Is that correct? I'd also be bummed if I couldn't see ducks/geese/cranes/loons signaling spring and fall.

[Submariner]

Maine has a lot of rivers and lakes.

Behind our house we have 1/4 mile of riverfrontage on the Penobscot River.

Many homes in our township have a small dock behind them. All summer long the homeowners can simply walk down to their boat, and off they go.

Look around and you will find many homes with water frontage.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by puff5655

Okay folks. I've hit a snag..

Bethel and Farmington are both looking great to me. But I realized something is lacking that I forgot to mention- lakes.

I noted that my husband loves fishing but forgot to say he loves fishing from a BOAT on a lake. He was spoiled and grew up in Northern Wisconsin where he had his choice of ~10 prime fishing lakes within a 20 mile drive. It looks like there aren't any lakes in the Bethel area. Is that correct? I'd also be bummed if I couldn't see ducks/geese/cranes/loons signaling spring and fall.

Wait, re Bethel, right over in Woodstock, there is North Pond, South Pond, and Bryant Pond, and they are all supposed to hold fish. Here is a pic of North Pond, not so bad...

[puff5655]

Are you able to launch a motorboat on these ponds? Or just kayaks/canoes? The Rangeley lakes aren’t too far..

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Wait, re Bethel, right over in Woodstock, there is North Pond, South Pond, and Bryant Pond, and they are all supposed to hold fish. Here is a pic of North Pond, not so bad...

[7th generation]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...#Oxford_County

Plenty of water to launch a boat in Oxford and Franklin County.

You'd be hard pressed to visit them all in quite a long time!

[puff5655]

Awesome! Thanks for the clarification!

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by puff5655

Are you able to launch a motorboat on these ponds? Or just kayaks/canoes? The Rangeley lakes aren’t too far..

See listing of boating restrictions on ME waters, it looks like the only restrictions on the 3 ponds I named are no personal water craft (jet skis):
https://www.boat-ed.com/maine/handbo...ternal-Waters/

It's also pretty easy to find listings of the species of game fish found in any Maine waters, as well as the stocking schedule for trout, if it's stocked - Google is your friend.

[1984]

Originally Posted by puff5655

Hi folks. I grew up in Western NY but have lived the last 10 years in Alaska. I've loved it but am thinking about moving back to the lower 48 now that I have a kid.
1. To be closer to family.
2. So my daughter can have more varied, comfortable outdoor experiences (it's harsh and dark in the winter here, and in summer we worry about bears frequenting our yard and voracious insects).

Anyone have experience with Alaska, or the PNW that could tell me if there are any smallish towns (~3000) in the Northeast (Maine, Vermont..) that will match the friendliness, hunting & fishing opportunities, and outdoor (hiking snowmobiling 4-wheeling etc.) opportunities of Alaska, or come close? Someplace scenic with lots of open country and public access? Are there real mountains?

My husband lives to snowmobile, ice fish, fish from our boat & hunt, so those are important. For me, family friendliness and hiking/biking are the most important. Also being able to affordably buy a home with a big piece of land and a nice view.

Even if you can't answer my question, if you could throw out some names of nice towns in the NE that I could research, I'd appreciate it. I know nothing about the area.

The mountains right across the border in White Mountain National Forest New Hampshire look like some of the smaller mountains in the Chugach National Forest by Turnagain Pass. Picture with car is Alaska. Other picture is New Hampshire. But in general the mountains don't compare.

One negative about Maine though is that it ranks number 41 of the 50 states for public land.

% that is Public Land = 5.7%. % that is Private Land = 94.3%


Alaska is number 1. % that is Public Land =95.8%. % that is Private Land =4.2%

I have heard though that some private landowners in Maine will let people use there land for certain recreational activities as long as they don't trash it.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by 1984

... One negative about Maine though is that it ranks number 41 of the 50 states for public land.

% that is Public Land = 5.7%. % that is Private Land = 94.3%

Alaska is number 1. % that is Public Land =95.8%. % that is Private Land =4.2%

I have heard though that some private landowners in Maine will let people use there land for certain recreational activities as long as they don't trash it.

And yet over 92% of Maine is forest.

As far as I have encountered the majority of Maine landowners allow people on their land. Maine landowners support the snowmobile clubs with over 16,000 miles of sled trails across their lands.

[1984]

Originally Posted by Submariner

And yet over 92% of Maine is forest.


As far as I have encountered the majority of Maine landowners allow people on their land. Maine landowners support the snowmobile clubs with over 16,000 miles of sled trails across their lands.

I know Maine is almost all forest, but its almost all private land. All I was saying is that most of the land in the state is owned privately. I wasn't saying that 94.3% of the land is cities, shopping malls and parking lots. I guess it doesn't matter though as much if random people can use the private land.