NOVEMBER 18, 1999

Land for Maine's Future Board surveys its task

BY PHYLLIS AUSTIN
Staff Writer

After voters approved the $50 million land and water bond issue with 68.6 percent of the vote Nov. 2, the Land for Maine's Future Board last week got down to business. The board is under a microscope more than ever from opponents, as well as supporters, to fund the worthiest conservation projects from an Increasing number of proposals.

Two leaders of the "Yes on 7" coalition addressed the board about the challenges ahead. Kent Wommack and Jay Espy, executive directors of The Nature Conservancy and Maine Coast Heritage Trust, said all eyes will be on the board now. "There are a lot more interested parties who have a stake in this and want to have a role," said Espy. Wommack advised, "Take the time now to get the process right." Public involvement and hearings should be held on all aspects of the process, he said, urging the importance of "integrity beyond reproach and fairness to all participants." LMFB, Wommack said, should be the "objective facilitator of the process, not advocate for individual projects or decisions."

LMFB was created in 1987 to dispense $35 million to acquire public lands of statewide significance, and the money was quickly spent. The Land Acquisition Priorities Committee concluded in a 1997 study that the state's land holdings should double (by one million acres) by 2020. A $45 million bond issue was recommended in 1998, but the Legislature only approved $3 million.

This time around, the bond issue requirements are more demanding. Up to 10 percent of the money must be spent for farmland preservation and 10 percent on water access purchases. Projects of regional or local significance must be considered along with those of statewide importance. LMFB also was given authority to make grants to cooperating entities, such as state agencies, municipalities and land trusts. The $50 million must be matched by $25 million in cash or in-kind contributions.

At the board's four-hour meeting in Augusta, LMFB director Mark DesMeules reported the board has committed all of the $3 million from 1998. Two purchases- the 62-acre Scarborough Beach and 70 acres with shorefront in Lincolnville- have closed. Twelve other projects, a number of them farmland development rights purchases, are pending.

DesMeules said about $3,000 to $4,000 each will be spent for an appraisal of four farms (in Bowdoinham, Dresden, Vassalboro and Dexter) that want to sell their development rights.

Lee Perry, designated a board member as commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, questioned the sense in getting an appraisal for the Christopher Farm in Bowdoinham. The requested $665,950 for purchase of the development rights would be more than was allocated from the $3 million for farmland preservation, he said. Richert said that although the sum is large, the request has merit because the Christopher Farm is "the southernmost [farm] in a rapidly developing area. I don't think we should go out and appraise a lot of things." DesMeules said there's $350,000 in federal money to match LMFB's $600,000 for farms, and held out the possibility of a package to buy rights to all four farms- if they have enough conservation value. He said since the four farms are in different areas, appraisals would provide needed information on the range of economic values that would be helpful in weighing future farmland proposals.

One of the first tasks of LMFB will be to revamp the scoring system. In the past, there has been a single system for ecologically important Lands, as well as farmland, but sometimes the board had problems with it. The scoring system has been based on "naturalness," said DesMeules, and some projects, such as Scarborough Beach and abandoned railroad bed property, haven't fit easily.

He said the new request for proposals will go out in late winter or early spring. "We're going to get a huge influx," he said, adding he expects many previous ones will be resubmitted. "Those were top-of-the-line proposals and will still be good top-of-the-line proposals" in the next round. The board agreed to have a two-day retreat, open to the public, to prepare for spending the $50 million.