Plan Blazes Appalachian Trail’s Extension to Canada : Environment: The famous footpath, which cuts through 14 states before ending in northern Maine, would continue into New Brunswick and Quebec under the plan.

A plan to extend the 2,150-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine another 250 miles into Canada was unveiled as an Earth Day initiative by former Gov. Joseph E. Brennan.

The famous footpath, which cuts through 14 states before ending at mile-high Katahdin in northern Maine, would continue into New Brunswick and Quebec under the Brennan proposal.

The new northern terminus would be at the summit of 4,180-foot Mt. Jacques Cartier, which marks the end of the Appalachian range in the spectacular Chic-Choc mountains of Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula.

The 250 additional miles would encompass a broad range of terrain, including spruce-fir forests of Maine and New Brunswick and the potato country of northern Maine’s Aroostook County.

Brennan, a former two-term governor who is a gubernatorial candidate this year, met with reporters at his Portland campaign office to outline the trail extension proposal.

He said the project, which is not dependent on his election, would help to strengthen the ties between Maine and its neighbors in Quebec and New Brunswick.

“This trail will be a symbol of our new commitment to work together as neighbors, to sustain and enjoy our common environment and to celebrate the grandeur of the landscape that ties us together,” he said.

Although he put no price tag on the project, Brennan noted that the existing trail was a volunteer effort and predicted that the extension would not be costly.

Dave Startzell, executive director of the Appalachian Trail Conference in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., said he was unaware of Brennan’s plan but noted that proposals to extend the trail in both directions have surfaced at various times in the past.

“The good people of Alabama have pointed out to us that the natural terminus of the Appalachian mountains is Alabama, not Georgia,” said Startzell, who also cited periodic efforts to have the trail extend into Florida.

A group in Quebec, he recalled, had approached him about a year ago with the idea of running a side trail from western Maine’s Rangeley area through Lac Megantic.

Startzell said any decision to extend the trail will be based in large part on the thinking of the conference’s member clubs that build and maintain its various sections.

Nonetheless, he indicated that an extension from either Katahdin or Springer Mountain, Ga., would not be undertaken lightly.

“The two terminuses are well ingrained in our history. Our articles of incorporation refer to Georgia and Maine. So it would certainly be a leap from our tradition,” he said.

Predicting strong Canadian interest in the extension, Brennan read a memorandum of support from Denis Losier, New Brunswick’s minister of Economic Development and Tourism.

“I see this as a tremendous opportunity to link by footpath two countries already linked in so many other ways,” wrote Losier, who noted that New Brunswick is now developing a provincial trail network of its own.