I am neither a fisherman nor a person whose livelihood depends on the fishing industry so you may ask why I want Mainers to vote yes on Question 7 this Nov. 8.

Why would a young professional who has hardly lived in the land of her childhood care and vote yes on 7? I care because I love the state where I was raised. I love everything that makes Maine’s coast what it is. I love not just the sight of lobster boats rocking gently on their moorings in the evening. I love the stinky bait barrels on the edge of a working wharf.

Many in Maine have felt the pinch of property tax valuations. The reality for many fishermen is that having their wharves evaluated within the current system values them as if the property was covered in million-dollar condos. This same valuation system was once true for Maine’s farms and timberlands. Today farmers and woodlot owners have the option to have their properties valued based on what they are used for; Maine approved their Question 7.

Whether you were born and raised in Maine or you moved here recently, we love Maine and it is Maine’s history of natural resource-based economies that has contributed to the culture and landscape. We need to preserve this history, this culture and this landscape.

In this endeavor I urge my fellow Mainers to support our working waterfront jobs and vote yes on Question 7 on Nov. 8.

Willow Rheault

Camden