PUBLIC ACCESS, PRIVATE GAIN

A task force created to assuage fears that the public was losing access to private lands could instead open the door to landowners charging fees to those who want to use their land and roads. This shift to making money from traditional access may be furthered by the state’s support of large-scale easements that forbid development but result in millions of dollars being paid to landowners, in part for keeping their land open to the public.

The task force’s report, which is being released this month, offers some good suggestions for improving relations between landowners and the people who use their land. But it also suggests that the fears that vast swaths will be put off limits are overblown.

The task force was created in September 2004 after sportsmen, camp owners and others became upset when Roxanne Quimby purchased a township in northern Penobscot County and forbade hunting, trapping, ATVs and snowmobiles on the land.

Despite concerns about Ms. Quimby and the fact that more than 7 million acres of forestland has changed hands in the last decade, the public has not lost much access in northern Maine. According to a service of Maine Forest Product Council members, who represent about 8 million acres of land, none had changed their access policy in the last six years and all allow access for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and snowmobiling.

When landowners put their land off-limits it is usually because it was misused. Garbage dumping and damage to roads, sometimes by ATVs, were the primary reasons for posting lands. Changes in state laws, and landowner recognition and compensation aren’t likely to eliminate these problems. Education programs may help as will stepped-up law enforcement, both recommendations from the task force.

Its report also recommends the creation of a mitigation account to compensate landowners for property damage and assistance programs to help remove trash and repair damage. While landowners should not have to put up with the misuse of their land, committing state funds or fees charged to users to help pay for damage and cleanup moves toward simply charging fees to access land. The latter is the system used by the North Maine Woods, which manages recreational use on 3.5 million acres of forest land, nearly all of it privately owned.

If the state wants to move in this direction, it should consider whether state and federal funds used to buy large easements count toward such landowner compensation. This is especially true, because the task force’s first recommendation is for steady and consistent funding for the Land for Maine’s Future program, which helps fund easements and land purchases.

The task force now hands its recommendations over to a permanent Landowners and Sportsmen Relations Advisory Board. That group must ensure it is solving real problems with solutions that benefit the public as well as landowners.