In 1987, legendary outdoors writer Bud Leavitt was prominently featured in advertisements encouraging support for the then-new Land for Maine’s Future program.

Bud’s influence is still being felt. Maine voters endorsed LMF in 1987, and again this week overwhelmingly approved a bond issue that included money for land conservation and state park infrastructure.

On four occasions, Maine’s voters have endorsed the Land for Maine’s Future program. Residents of every county have benefited from this national model for the funding of land conservation. And, this year, the measure passed in every county.

More than 400,000 acres of the Maine landscape have been conserved with the help of LMF. From the Bold Coast in Cutler to Seboomok, from Aroostook State Park to Penjajawoc Marsh, LMF has been a key element in preserving open space for recreation. But the program also plays a role in economic development. Large tracts of working forest have been protected by conservation easement, allowing landowners to continue to supply wood to Maine’s paper and sawmills.

In its 20-year existence, LMF has preserved some of Maine’s best places: Mount Kineo; the Camden Hills; the Debsconeags. But it has also worked with local land trusts to save key smaller parcels in towns across Maine. This week’s support of the Land for Maine’s Future program was an endorsement and a charge: Keep working to save those places important to Maine people and visitors to our state.

That same charge was given to the Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands, with the approval of $7.5 million for infrastructure improvements. Maine’s state park and historic site system entertains more than 2 million visitors annually, the majority of them from Maine. In 2007, we saw an increase in attendance of nearly 10 percent. Those visitors yield an economic impact of more than $100 million to the towns and cities that host these facilities. The outdoors experience provided by the state park system will only be enhanced by completion of projects that will now be made possible: much-needed repair work at the Crouseville Trestle, a major snowmobile-ATV river crossing in Washburn; new playgrounds and group picnic pavilions at many of our parks; improvements to campgrounds at Lamoine and Lily Bay; and necessary masonry work at Fort Popham.

In July, the Baldacci administration launched a program called Take It Outside, aimed at reconnecting Maine’s young people with our outdoors heritage. Gov. Baldacci led by example, climbing Mount Katahdin and canoeing the Allagash with his son Jack. Hiking, biking, fishing, camping and other outdoors pursuits are often unfamiliar to many. Improvements to our state parks and historic sites will make them even more popular destinations for families living in or visiting Maine. The whole idea of recreation is to have fun, and our state parks and historic sites will offer fun for all.

Maine people understand the connection between the outdoors, the environment and Maine’s economy. Tourism, forest products, snowmobile and ATV riding, hunting and fishing combine for more than $20 billion in annual economic impact – and depend on our abundant natural resources. A recent study showed that young people ages 25 to 34 were moving to or staying in Maine at a faster pace than 36 other states. From 2004 to 2006, Maine saw a 4 percent increase in this demographic. One big draw for those new residents is the myriad of outdoor recreation opportunities that exist here. Whether they hike, hunt or kayak, these young adults find it here in Maine, and more often than not find it on state park land or lands preserved with the help of Land for Maine’s Future – nearly 1 million acres, 99 percent of it open to hunting and fishing.

We thank Maine’s voters for their support and their foresight. There is much work ahead for us here at the Department of Conservation and for the local land trusts that depend on LMF. Maine voters have made a remarkable statement of commitment to the lands that are their home. Bud Leavitt and those who in 1987 helped launch this great program would be proud.

Patrick K. McGowan is commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation, and was a sponsor of legislation creating the Land for Maine’s Future program in 1986.