Land for Maine’s Future reality check

The Maine Legislature will soon debate what bonds to present to the public for our consideration in November. I would like to examine one that is likely to come up and review the cost, need and representation of the Land for Maine’s Future program. I believe a reality check is in order.

The cost of any bond issued for the LMF is not limited to the bond itself. Properties involved may be taken off the local tax rolls in part or entirely, placing a greater burden on the remaining taxpayers. LMF projects may be exempted from a municipality’s state evaluation, having a negative economic impact on neighboring towns within the county or school district. Also, and perhaps most significant, those lands purchased outright or controlled by the state will require ongoing taxpayer support for maintenance, improvement and policing. Given the current condition of the state budget, can we afford the additional obligations?

Are the taxpayers of Maine the only resource available for LMF? Plum Creek has proposed a 426,340-acre development in the North Maine Woods. Their proposal includes nearly 11,000 acres in permanent shoreland conservation easements, more than 21,000 acres in protected natural resources, 2,800 acres in open space and 382,000 acres in nondevelopment working forest.

Wal-Mart recently granted the Downeast Lakes Forestry Partnership $6.1 million for a 339,000-acre conservation project in Washington County, part of a nationwide disbursement of $35 million administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. An anonymous owner recently granted a 169-acre conservation easement on Webber Pond in Vassalboro to the Kennebec Land Trust.

Other sources of support include the Forest Legacy Program, the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, The Nature Conservancy, the Maine Coast Heritage Fund and the Forestry Society of Maine, just to name a few. None of these required a vote of the citizenry of the state of Maine or any taxpayer dollars.

Recent letters to the editor and news articles have espoused the merits of the LMF program. They claim the LMF program is essential to guarantee continued access to private lands for Maine citizens for snowmobiling, four-wheeling, hunting, hiking, etc. The LMF Web site lists 103 projects completed to date. Of those 103 projects, five deny any public access without explicit permission, 96 prohibit four-wheeling and 72 prohibit snowmobiling. The projects are concentrated near the coast (26 projects in York and Cumberland counties alone); only 30 of the projects are in the inland region of the state – 12 projects in the Western Mountains Region. I think perhaps we have been hoodwinked to a degree.

As much as I enjoy the Maine outdoors (except May when it rained for 28 days), I do not rely on the state to pay for or guarantee access for my good walk spoiled (that would be golf for the uninitiated) and I do not believe taxpayers should be burdened with the cost of guaranteeing others the pursuit of their chosen outdoor activities. It is time to abandon the socialist doctrine of state ownership and start pursuing private enterprise; after all, that is what this country was built on.

Jim Dunton is a resident of Bingham.