Protect Great Ponds by reviving boat act

Maine’s 5,600 lakes and ponds are a defining characteristic of the state’s landscape and quality of life. In addition to supplying outstanding recreational opportunities to citizens and visitors, lakes provide drinking water to lakefront property owners and the residents of towns and cities where nearly half our population live. Traditional summer camps that have entertained, educated, and inspired generations of children from around the world are situated on lakes and ponds. Here children learn to swim, fish, and paddle a canoe. The eerie call of the loon, the powerful diving Osprey, or a lone moose peacefully enjoying a watery meal may be experienced on our Great Ponds.

Our lakes and ponds are also critical to many municipal budgets. Lakefront property values and tax revenues generated from these properties contribute substantial portions of local school budgets. Likewise, the fisherman and boaters attracted to Maine’s lakes support thousands of jobs and add millions to Maine’s economy.

Fortunately Maine law defines our natural and man-made great ponds as public property. But we also share responsibility to watch over the health of our lakes, particularly these days when reduced State resources dedicated to the Departments of Fish and Wildlife and Conservation are spread thin. For example, citizens may not realize that a lake infested with Eurasian milfoil, an invasive water plant that is wreaking havoc on lakes throughout New England (except Maine) can cause a 20 percent loss in property values along the shore. In addition the plant can choke the shoreline with impenetrable tendrils and starve the water of oxygen needed by fish and other aquatic life. We can only hope to defend lakes and ponds from the threats posed by invasive plant and fish species by enlisting volunteer community-based assistance with environmental monitoring and education programs.

Some types of boat use can also threaten the quality of lakes and ponds. A study of boats entering Maine between July and September 2001 showed that trailered motor boats comprised 20 percent of the total; personal watercraft, 2 percent; canoes and kayaks accounted for more than 60 percent of incoming boats. Between 1994 and 2001 personal watercraft use rose 103 percent while kayak use rose by 170 percent. Pressure on lakes and ponds will mount and the risk of degrading them will increase as the number of and types of watercraft continue to expand. Communities abutting these water resources and depend on them for local recreation and tax income, along with and property owners who have made significant investments in lakefront property, should have a voice in determining appropriate use of these waters.

State law, Title 38, Chapter 20: Protection of Maine Lakes, Section 1841 declares, “the State’s goals, in managing the surface uses of Great Ponds are to avoid or minimize conflicts among recreational users, energy producers, shore land owners, … and maintain traditional water-dependent businesses, and ensure that the intensity of use allowed in Great Ponds is in keeping with its capacity to accommodate that use.” Unfortunately, unregulated surface use can and has affected the water quality of lakes. Increased turbidity of water, shoreline erosion, disturbance of aquatic habitat and the introduction of chemicals to the water column, along with invasive species are cited as concerns that require public involvement. Irresponsible recreational boaters, especially high powered boats operating in shallow near-shore waters can cause resuspension of bottom sediments, disturb wading birds and destroy loon nests and eggs.

In 1997, the committees on Natural Resources and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife crafted landmark legislation to balance the needs of the environment with the competing needs of the public – namely, the ability of lakefront property owners to enjoy their substantial investment versus the ability of all Maine people to have access to those waters. This collaboration resulted in a public process at the local level to provide recommendations to the Legislature for any restrictions on boating use on a Great Pond. It is notable that the legislature subsequently rejected approximately half the submitted recommendations, which refutes claims that such a process gives the legislature a “slam-dunk” to ban personal watercraft or other boating activity.

The expiration of the law was intentional, and in fact the number of complaints that led to the crisis on Maine’s waters has largely abated. But requests for restrictions still come in the form of individual bills, and without a local process to answer critical questions about environmental needs and local concerns, it is impossible to protect everyone’s rights.

LD 1675, a bill being considered in the Maine House of Representatives perhaps as early as today, would restore the “Great Ponds” statute. The Great Ponds statute once provided Maine towns with an ongoing, cost-effective, democratic process for communities to regulate the use of motorized craft, including jet skis, on waters adjacent to their jurisdiction. The original Great Ponds bill was enacted with a sunset provision. So the law, although still useful, automatically expired several years ago. This law, which proved effective in the 1990s, should be re-instated in order to allow Maine’s tradition of home rule to be exercised by the registered voters in communities, which are home to great ponds.

Currently, individuals can request that their local Legislator submit a bill to regulate a water body. This process may not necessarily include wider valuable community input. And it is inefficient and wasteful for the Legislature to consider such requests on a case by case, lake-by-lake basis. Our Great Pond heritage, which threads back to colonial days, requires our vigilance and public participation. Please urge your legislator to support LD 1675, the Great Ponds Act.

Rep. Matt Dunlap is chairman of the Legislature’s Inland Fish and Wildlife Committee. Rep. Ted Koffman is chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.