The Allagash River has been called one of the country's most endangered waterways, and there's the rub: Must we stay off rivers in order to save them?

Your Scribe recently read on a "green" blog that an advocacy group called American Rivers has labeled the Allagash one of the nation's most threatened waterways.

This isn't like the '70s, when the Androscoggin and the Kennebec were called two of the most polluted rivers in the country. They were. And from there, Ed Muskie got inspired. He built a career and the rivers got cleaner - or vice versa - thanks to his Clean Water Act.

Here's the odd part about the Allagash situation, at least if you like the Maine outdoors. The river is not polluted. It just has the potential to be enjoyed by "too many" people.

The association says that there are as many as 12 (rudimentary) roads to the river, which is about 92 miles long. And in a scary use of statistics, the Boston Globe blogger says "conservationists say the growing number of access points are an open door to more than 50 million people who are only a day's drive away from the corridor. Originally, only two drive-up access points were authorized on the waterway."

This is the conundrum: Must a "wild" river be off-limits to canoeists and campers? Is a Maine river endangered just because a few hundred people a year have the initiative to find their way to the water, and dip the paddles into the pristine water?

It's inappropriate that press releases go out from American Rivers suggesting that the politicians should get organized, and legislate that people should stay away from the Allagash. And it's deceptive to suggest that 50 million people have potential access to the waterway.

Instead of making ominous implications, representatives of American Rivers should count the number of sportsmen who actually use it. Is it really threatened by overuse?

But assessing the actual use of the river would take planning and work. It's easier to write a press release implying that the Allagash is being damaged by overuse.

Where's the proof?

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