Maine’s tradition of permissive trespass — the use of private land by people who don’t have explicit permission to be on that land — is unique. Nowhere else in the contiguous United States is one likely to find so much undeveloped private land open to use by the general public.

That tradition is also fading fast, and it’s high time that Mainers come to understand that unless they treat private property with respect, recreating for free on private land will become a thing of the past.

On Dec. 2, the Penobscot Indian Nation closed off the acreage it owns in Carrabassett Valley — more than half of the town’s 42,000 acres — to trespassing. Those who want to use the Penobscots’ land must now write for permission. It’s not the first case where land access has been limited by a large landowner. Earlier this year, leaseholders around the Seboomook Lake/Northeast Carry area were concerned about new policies and leasing arrangements proposed by McDonald Investment Co. of Birmingham, Ala., which purchased the land from Bowater.

Bowater had always taken a relatively laissez-faire attitude toward leaseholders; the changes shocked leaseholders, who feared that their investments in their camps, homes and other properties were threatened.

The same reaction has held true in Carrabassett Valley, where town leaders and business people both accuse the Penobscots of overreacting to problems of trash, trail widening and other land-use problems, and also worry about how the tribe’s decision to require express permission for land use will affect the town.

Undoubtedly, if the Penobscots stick to their plans, life in the Carrabassett Valley will be altered — and, possibly, for the worse. Town leaders hope to meet with the tribe in January to work through the issue, and to try to convince the Penobscots to change their minds, something at least one tribal spokesperson says is unlikely.

With luck, a compromise can be found that respects the Penobscots’ property rights and allows all sides to continue to benefit from the land, whether economically or spiritually. But the point is clear: The land is private, and it is up to the Penobscots to determine how, and by whom, it may be used.