In the late 1960s a bipartisan research committee of the Maine Legislature conducted a careful review of the need for legislation to protect the land and water resources in the Unorganized Territory of Maine. This committee found that a variety of factors “are conspiring to subject these lands and waters to ever-increasing development pressures,” thereby threatening the permanent loss and destruction of these resources.

In its work, the committee took special note of the opportunity that we in Maine had to learn from the terrible mistakes that have been made in other parts of the United States, where preservation of critical natural resources had not occurred. In 1971 the Legislature created the Land Use Regulation Commission in order to provide for orderly development and protection in the unorganized townships of this state.

As the Republican floor leader of the House of Representatives and as the Democratic representative from Eagle Lake, we were part of the bipartisan effort to pass this legislation.

One of the fundamental goals leading to the creation of the commission was to create a unique and independent board of ordinary citizens not subject to special-interest lobbying pressures. Over the years the members of this independent commission, volunteering their time in the public interest, have made careful and we believe balanced decisions with respect to the many competing interests. Their efforts have continued despite the fact that at times they have been hopelessly short-handed in terms of professional staff.

Unfortunately, history shows us that over the past 35 years special-interest efforts have continued their attempts to stifle the effectiveness of the commission or, indeed, eliminate it entirely. In fact, one of Maine’s major daily newspapers has coined a description for this regular pattern of behavior, calling it the “kill LURC syndrome.” This year, once again, we have a couple of manifestations of this virus.

The commission’s tool for evaluating and reacting to change is what is called a comprehensive land use plan. The process of drafting and adopting a plan is exhaustive and involves meetings, public hearings and public workshops. All interested parties are presented full and fair opportunity to be heard. During the past years there have been three plans completed – 1976, 1983 and 1997.

The commission and its staff are currently in the process of establishing a plan that will reflect the current trends in the Unorganized Territory – trends such as alternative energy resource development, nature-based tourism and resorts, and extremely large residences. A new plan is under development and will be completed in 2007.

LD 472, now before the Legislature, would require legislative approval of the plan and would mean that the Legislature would need to repeat the public hearings and work session processes already conducted by the commission. Even worse, requiring legislative involvement in the adoption of a plan would bring what has been a detailed and objective process into the political arena, subjecting it to special-interest lobbying efforts.

The Legislature currently has full oversight responsibilities with respect to the commission’s activities, including confirming the appointment of commission members, approving its budget and reviewing and approving all rules promulgated by the commission. Requiring Legislative approval of every revision of the comprehensive land use plan is unnecessary, and the Legislature does not have time to duplicate the good work already done by LURC.

Another example of this recurrent virus is LD 473. This proposal would seek to change the basic mandate for the commission, which is to work “for the public benefit, and for the good order of the people of this State” through the encouragement of “well planned and well managed multiple use of land and resources.” This proposal would ignore the fact that decisions with respect to the Unorganized Territory are important to all of us in Maine because decisions with respect to development there will affect all of us and should be made on that basis.

LD 473 would give timber companies priority rights and neglect the legitimate rights of all of us to enjoy our unique natural heritage. We don’t believe that Plum Creek, for example, should have priority rights. There is no history whatever of the commission ignoring the legitimate interests of property owners in the Unorganized Territory. It is certainly true that occasionally there has been a disgruntled developer to be heard, but there is simply no basis for any claim that these owners have been short-changed. We, all of us, have supported the favorable tax treatment given to the lands devoted to forest management, and for that reason, and others, we have a stake in the outcome.

These citizen commissioners provide a unique system of orderly and fair-minded planning. Development pressures in the unorganized territories are more intense now than ever in Maine history. Once again – as we did all those years ago – we have a chance to learn from history. In this case there is a good history of protecting the legitimate rights of all of us to enjoy our unique natural heritage. We should learn from that good history.

Harrison Richardson of Gorham is a former House majority leader. State Sen. John L. Martin is the assistant Democratic majority leader and represents District 35.