Last fall, before the bottom fell out of state tax receipts and the roof caved in on the budget, there was powerful and almost universal agreement that Maine should increase its commitment to purchase land for public use.

Maine’s fiscal picture has changed dramatically in the past five months, but this should not deter the Legislature from going to the voters with a reasonable bond package to support proven programs that already have secured recreational and wildlands, coastal and inland areas of unique significance and shore frontage that now is a permanent part of the heritage of the people of this state.

Based on the enthusiasm and success of land-aquisition efforts coordinated by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Land for Maine’s Future Board, Sen. Michael Pearson late in 1989 suggested new bonding of $75 million for a five-year effort to purchase additional property in the state by the Board, and through a new matching progam that would be set up to help towns buy locally significant land.

House Speaker John Martin threw his weight behind $20 million in bonds for the purchase of wildlife habitat. In addition, there was a $15 million proposal for new bonding to aquire important farmland.

At the time, none of these ideas was considered outrageous. In fact, despite the current shortfall in tax revenues, all of the ideas still have merit, in principle.

Since 1986, when voters authorized $5 million for purchases by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and a year later, when they voted almost 7-3 to create the Future’s Board and provide it with $35 million, the process of securing priceless sites has been one of the most impressively executed ventures of state government.

The crowning achievement of this effort was IF&W Commissioner William Vail’s successful negotiation of a 500-foot-wide state-controlled corridor on both sides of the Roach River, the primary landlocked salmon-spawning tributary feeding Moosehead Lake.

For $950,000, Commissioner Vail secured protection for 6.3 miles of river and its fishery and created access for the public. He was justified in taking pride in the purchase and in refering to it as “the jewel of the various acquisitions we have made.”

Gov. McKernan’s latest bond package, reflecting the fiscal realities of early 1990, contains $8 million in fresh funding for the Land for Maine’s Future Board.

As it discusses a bond effort that will not compromise the state’s credit rating, the Legislature and the governor’s office should remember that there is continued strong public sentiment for these programs.

Opinion polls consistently register public support of acquisition programs at 60-70 percent. There is every reason to believe that despite the leanness of the times there would be voter support for reduced levels of funding, to be spent over a shorter period of time.

The same forces that have diminished tax receipts — the slower real estate and development market — also make this an ideal time for the state to be in the role of buyer. In addition, the changing management and holding philosophies of some of the state’s major landowners means that in the next few years there will be one-time opportunities for large acquisitions.

Within the limits of prudent bonding policy, the public should be given an opportunity to express its opinion on maintaining the momentum of these important programs.