Study: Land conservation needed

Maine has an urgent need for state-funded land conservation, like the Land for Maine’s Future program, according to a study released Thursday by the University of Maine.

The study was commissioned by the State Planning Office, which oversees LMF, in anticipation of this fall’s vote on a bond issue for continued funding of the program.

Gov. John Baldacci is pushing a $60,000 bond, to be spent over three years, as part of his $120 million bond package, while Rep. John Richardson, D-Brunswick, has proposed $150 million over five years in a separate bill.

Since its creation in 1987, Land for Maine’s Future has provided grants for the conservation of land with scenic, recreational and cultural value, as well as funds for working forests and farms. More than 130,000 acres have been preserved through sales or easements in the past 17 years with a total of $85 million.

So, beginning last August, staff from the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine and the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine set out to answer the question: What is the impact of all these LMF dollars?

The study team, led by Richard Barringer at USM and Jonathan Rubin at UM, analyzed economic and development data and then, in cooperation with dozens of people, conducted personal interviews, asking Mainers how they perceive the social and economic impacts of LMF projects in their area.

Whether interviewing someone whose favorite bird-watching spot was preserved or a property rights advocate with reservations about the idea of state-sponsored land conservation, everyone wanted to talk about LMF, Barringer said.

Although LMF has its critics, the program is tremendously popular, he said. “You’re talking about something very close to people’s hearts. … They see this as an instrument for keeping hold of the things they value.”

The study argues that funding for LMF ought to continue, because the need for conservation has not abated. Just 6.7 percent of Maine’s land is publicly held, below national or regional averages. And Maine has seen double-digit land inflation prices since the mid-’90s.

Over the past five years, land conservation has been on the rise nationwide in response to development sprawl, and because of the recent consumer shift from erratic stock market investments to the stability of real estate.

Nationally, more than $30 billion in land conservation bonds have been approved over the last three years, according to the Trust for Public Lands.

Government programs and private philanthropists are making more money available for land conservation than ever before. Maine has to act now, the study’s authors said.

LMF projects require that a third of all costs come from federal funds or private donations. But, recently, Maine has averaged $2.40 in matching funds for each LMF dollar, the study said.

“We have a flow of funds right now,” Barringer said. “They don’t just sit around waiting for Maine.”

The lifetime of Land for Maine’s Future is perhaps another 10 to 20 years, Barringer said. Perhaps by the 2030s, the period of intense development and change on Maine’s landscape will have subsided, or perhaps enough land will have been preserved by LMF and the state’s hundreds of private land trusts that state money could be better-spent elsewhere.

“Anyone who says they can tell you exactly what the state is going to look like in 10 years is blowing smoke,” agreed Tim Glidden, who oversees the program at the State Planning Office. “When the nature of land conservation shifts, that’s when we need to re-evaluate.”

The study’s evaluation recommends several ways that the state can improve LMF, including more public access to information about the program, more regional cooperation on conservation projects, and an increased consideration of projects’ economic value.

Economics has played only an “atmospheric role,” and increased tourism and recreation dollars came only as “serendipity,” Glidden said.

“For us not to be thinking about [economics] up front is missing an opportunity,” Barringer said. “We need to support, not constrain, the economic development of a community.”

The study does not recommend an amount of money for the next LMF bond, but Barringer said Thursday that $20 million per year – the amount proposed by the governor – seems appropriate.

Neither does the study set an acreage goal to judge the program’s success.

“The people of Maine will tell us when there’s enough,” Glidden said.

The Land for Maine’s Future Web site can be found at http://www.state.me.us/spo/lmf. The LMF bond bills will have a joint public hearing beginning at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday March 3, at the State House.