BANGOR — Two major timberland deals are in the works that could affect access to thousands of acres east of Baxter State Park.

Conservationist Roxanne Quimby, a leading advocate of limited-use wilderness, has reportedly bought about 4,900 acres in two parcels north of Millinocket and west of Stacyville, the Bangor Daily News reported Wednesday.

Quimby's nonprofit foundation, Elliotsville Plantation Inc., declined comment on pending or recently completed land transactions, but an e-mail from Quimby to various parties said the foundation had purchased the Deasey Ponds and Mud Brook parcels last week.

State officials, meanwhile, confirmed a tentative agreement to acquire about 8,000 acres that was key to last year's addition of Katahdin Lake to Baxter State Park.

But the acquisition of the so-called "Valley Lands" will take place only if a nonprofit manages to raise more than $6 million in about three months.

That would represent a "considerable challenge," according to state Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan, who said it's not an impossibility.

Millinocket Town Manager Eugene Conlogue announced the sale during the first meeting of the Katahdin Area Access Working Group, which is working with the state on a comprehensive approach to land-use management in the region.

Conlogue, other local officials and representatives of sportsmen's groups have been meeting privately with Quimby in an attempt to find common ground on land-use issues.

The most critical issue of the latest purchase, Conlogue said, will be maintaining public access for traditional uses in the smaller of the two pieces, which includes a major snowmobile trail. He said Quimby has indicated that continued trail access should not be a problem.

Gardner Land Co. of Lincoln has agreed to sell the Valley Lands to the Trust for Public Land if the nonprofit can raise the $6.1 million by Oct 30.

The Gardners agreed to give the state an option to buy the Valley Lands as part of the political wrangling over the addition of Katahdin Lake to Baxter State Park, a deal that drew complaints from sportsmen objecting to loss of traditional land uses.

The Katahdin Lake property has already been deeded to the state and would not be affected if the current deal fails to be completed.