The Nature Conservancy yesterday showed what commitment and access to ready money can buy in Maine. Its announced intention to purchase 185,000 acres in northwestern Maine from International Paper is both welcome news for conservation and the fourth startling example this fall of the changes taking place in the Maine woods. The announcement further emphasizes need for the state to be prepared to make purchases of its own.

It is not so surprising that first Plum Creek, then Irving and McDonald Inventment and now The Nature Conservancy wanted substantial pieces of Maine’s woods. The surprise is that so much land was and is for sale. Large parcels have changed hands many times before, of course, but the number of sales in such a short time (plus the 300,000 acres of Champion land sold this month in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York) suggests that the Northeast is in one of those rare times that ultimitely will redefine the character of the region.

TNC was clear about its purchase, which is nearly the size of Baxter State Park: Public access for traditional uses, such as canoeing and hunting, will be continued. The working forest will be continued — but with greater protections along the 40 miles that abuts the Upper St. John River. Some land will be set aside for conservation and some for recreation. It is the same woods and yet very different; it is a likely future for an expanding percent of undeveloped Maine.

The state has a role this, to support desirable purchases and to preserve open space elsewhere. After Maine was caught flatfooted when the Sappi and Bowater lands went up for sale, the debate over a bond for public land purchases should have become no longer over whether but over how much.

The highly regarded Land for Maine’s Future bond 11 years ago was for $35 million. The Land Acquisition Priorities Committee last year called for a $45 million bond. Environmental groups and many recreation businesses want it to be $100 million. The numbers, however, are not particularly meaningful without a sense of what the state wants out of its lands purchases.

The priorities committee offers guidance. It highlighted the need to protect the following types of land: places with access to water, particularly undeveloped coastline; Southern Maine conservation land; and ecological reserves, chosen to protect “all of the natural communities and species found in the state.” The committee added that in the event large tracts of Northern Maine land come on the market, they too should receive priority.

$120 million over five years

Given the piddling amount of money currently available for the Land for Maine’s Future board, the size of the purchases coming on the market, the favorable interest rates and the need for the state to establish long-term sources of revenue for protecting open space, Maine lawmakers should consider the following proposal. They should approve a two-part bond that, first, authorized the use of $40 million immediately and without restriction and, second, authorized the use of $20 million a year for the succeeding four years under certain conditions.

Those conditions should include a dollar-for-dollar match from other sources, an emphasis on conservation easements, a listing of the activities to be allowed on the land and a requirement that any of the land protection purchases meet legislatively approved goals, such as those of the priorities committee. For instance, often overlooked in discussions of large recent purchases is the need to set aside smaller parcels of land in Southern Maine, which, as the committee points out, not only has a higher population density but also is richest in biological diversity. Enhancing public access to the coast might be another priority, as would targetting areas that, while not ecologically unique, would serve local residents particularly well.

Or could if people could find them. One of the shortcomings of the land purchased by the state so far is comparatively few people know about it. That’s probably fine with the people who are familiar with them, but does not adequately serve the population. A widely distributed accounting of land already available to the public should precede further buys.

The Nature Conservancy’s purchase is important, but it is just one piece of many needed. A five-year, $120 million bond package would give Maine enough money to be ready for the next major sale and continue the work of the Land for Maine’s Future board. The events of the fall have given legislators plenty of reasons to support such a package.