The team of reporters and photographers make their way down the St. Croix on the first leg of their three week trip. Staff photo by John Patriquin.

In central Maine, volunteers are preparing a map and guidebook for traveling down the Kennebec River from Moosehead Lake to open ocean at Popham Beach.

The route of ancient American Indians from northern Maine to Penobscot Bay is being used as a vehicle to teach about water quality, history and life along the Penobscot River.

And along the Androscoggin, boaters have just finished the second annual Source to the Sea canoe trek, a 165-mile journey down a river that was once among the country's most polluted waterways.

Across Maine, a push is on to identify and establish modern water trails.

Residents are rediscovering historic travel routes first blazed by native tribes and early settlers, and they're turning these corridors into recreational waterways. The surge in activity places Maine at the forefront of a broader movement, which is creating dozens of modern water trails from Florida to British Columbia.

Maine already boasts what is generally considered the nation's first modern water trail - the Maine Island Trail, a 9-year-old coastal corridor connecting 80 islands. The man who championed the idea, David Getchell Sr. of Appleton, says the appeal of water trails is growing. As water quality improves, he says, more people recognize rivers and their watersheds as untapped sources of outdoor recreation.

''It's a matter of access,'' says Getchell, president of North American Water Trails. ''People are becoming more aware that the water is a public resource, and they want to take advantage of it.''

North American Water Trails was formed four years ago by Getchell and other small-boat enthusiasts. It operates an a nonprofit umbrella organization to share information about forming and maintaining water trails.

But the development of new water trails could face opposition in some areas.

That's the situation with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, a four-state concept that would recreate a 700-mile route from Fort Kent to Old Forge, N.Y. In northern Maine, large landowners worry that designating new trails, and identifying canoe portages and campsites, would lead to a public takeover of private property.

''Once the public uses private property for a specific purpose,'' says Al Cowperthwaite, director of North Maine Woods in Ashland, ''suddenly there's a need to protect it.''

North Maine Woods manages 2.8 million acres of land owned by companies including Bowater Inc., Irving Pulp & Paper and Prentiss & Carlisle Co. It allows hunting, fishing and boating in various locations, registering 100,000 visitors each year. In recent months, however, the association has clashed with canoe trail advocates over their desire to create a portage route from the Allagash Wilderness Waterway to the Aroostook River.

Some of the friction can be blamed on bad timing. Recent efforts to ban clear-cutting and designate a large chunk of northern Maine as parkland has put timber companies on the defensive.

A new canoe trail sounds like a nice idea, Cowperthwaite says, until the day conservationists want wider buffer zones and more rules. That's what happened on the Allagash during the past 20 years, as it has become more popular. Eventually, he fears, timber harvesting would also be limited along the Northern Forest trail.

''We've gotten gun shy about any new uses,'' Cowperthwaite says.

Getchell understands this point of view. He has watched conflicts evolve along the Maine Island Trail, where recreational boaters have sometimes clashed with local residents over how some islands should be used.

For water trails to succeed, Getchell says, supporters must work closely with local groups and form partnerships with private landowners to address any concerns. It's a process that takes years.

In Washington state, for instance, bed-and-breakfast inns have emerged as an overnight alternative to camping along the Cascadia Marine Trail. State parks that include campsites and boat launches have been integrated into New York's Hudson River Waterway.

''If people sit down and talk,'' he says, ''the more they can work out these problems.''