Land access task force releases suggestions

GREENVILLE – A task force commissioned to study the traditional uses and public access to Maine lands said the state should fund and improve its landowner relations programs.

For decades, private landowners in Maine have allowed public access to their lands for fishing, hunting and recreation, a practice considered a rarity in the country. But dramatic changes in land ownership patterns in the state over the past decade have alarmed some who fear that tradition could change. Any new restrictions on private lands could have a drastic effect on Maine’s tourism economy, the state’s single largest industry.

In an effort to find ways to address access to land for traditional uses, Gov. John Baldacci signed an executive order in 2004 that created the Task Force on Traditional Uses and Public Access to Land in Maine.

The preliminary results of the study, which involved the participation of small and large landowners and municipal and state officials, were released Monday by Karin Tilberg, deputy commissioner of the Department of Conservation, during the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council’s quarterly meeting in Greenville.

“Maine residents and visitors have long enjoyed a unique relationship with private landowners,” Tilberg said Monday. The study results are a reaffirmation of just how important that relationship is to tourism.

The recommendations now go to the offices of Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan and Gov. John Baldacci for consideration.

Revenues from tourism totaled $377 million in state and local taxes in 2002, the latest statistics available for the study. Outdoor and recreational opportunities offered to tourists on both public and private lands are essential to the state’s economic well-being, according to the study.

The task force believes that enhanced landowner relations programs would be the most productive approach to encouraging public access on private lands, Tilberg said.

The decision by landowners to open their lands to the public for recreational uses involves a commitment to the community; a recognition of the economic importance that may be provided; a comfortable feeling of knowing that their land will be treated well and respected; having confidence in law enforcement; and knowing there are landowner assistance programs for their use, according to the task force.

Suggestions given in the report of how landowner relations can be improved include more educational programs in schools, offering a hot line for landowners who have complaints, giving more recognition to landowners who offer public access on their properties and funding a landowner mitigation account that compensates them for property damage done by the public.

Ensuring consistent, steady funding for the Land for Maine’s Future Program is equally important, according to the task force, which recognized the importance of this program for the acquisition and long-term protection and stability of public access for outdoor recreation.

Tilberg said the task force was intrigued by flexible easements used in other states. Flexible easements allow for permanent trails to cross a parcel of land, but the locations of the trails could change at the landowner’s discretion.

The task force also supports the Department of Conservation and Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s work to update and implement a strategic plan to provide public access to bodies of waters for boating and fishing.

Two other recommendations were included in the report but need further research: increasing the acreage cap for land in open space to match Tree Growth and Farm Land programs when allowing public access; and in exploring a woods road access and maintenance program.

Greenville Town Manager John Simko recommended the latter concept, suggesting it be a voluntary program in which landowners who allow public access would qualify for state help with the costs of maintaining the road and with protecting the road owner from liability.