Land for Maine

If these land sales continue, Maine residents are going to think that any chunk of real estate under 1 million acres is hardly worth bothering about. But Irving’s announced purchase last week of nearly half of Bowater’s 2 million acres is both a recommitment in Maine to logging over development and a warning for the state to have cash on hand when sites of unusual value go up for sale.

The logging over development is no surprise — Bowater needed a buyer who would supply its mills with wood for the long term. As with the Sappi sale to Plum Creek, Bowater wanted a working forest, and any buyer thinking condominiums or park need not apply.

There remains a large and important exception to this not only on both lands but statewide and a reason for the next Legislature to start thinking on the scale of the 1987 Land for Maine’s Future bond. Plum Creek and Irving say they will continue traditional uses on their land, including public access, and no one has offered evidence to doubt that. But the changes in ownership should make lawmakers feel uneasy enough to remember that private land in Maine will continue to change hands and some buyers may think a lakeshore area would be enhanced by a No Trespassing sign.

Maine needs to be prepared to start protecting some of the areas of special interest identified last year by a recent governor’s panel, the Land Acquisition Priorities Advisory Committee, which estimated the state would need a $45 million bond to begin the process and an ongoing source of revenue after that. Gov. King recently said he would support at least a $35 million bond.

The point is to be prepared so that when a parcel does become available, the state is able both to say whether it meets a criteria for protection and would have the money to do something about it.

The Land for Maine’s Future Board, underfunded by last year’s Legislature, has an excellent track record for making good use of state bond money. It has found and pruchased more than 65,000 acres from willing sellers in the last decade in every Maine county. Along the way, it learned to leverage money from other sources to stretch Maine tax dollars and ended up buying with its original bond more than it thought possible.

However well-spent, that money is now gone, but the pressure to alter the traditional uses of Maine land is not. A bond that reflects the priorities project goals is a good way to be ready the next time a million-acre parcel goes up for sale.