Property for the people

By Jonathan Humphrey, staff writer

Augusta - When it comes to choosing land to buy for the public, the state has plenty of ideas.
Money is another matter.
At the moment, Maine's fund for public land acquisition is essentially broke.
That could change in November, when voters will consider a $50 million bond to replenish the fund that would be boosted to $75 million by a required match from other sources.
Gov. Angus S. King, who supports the bond, estimates the money could buy another 100,000 acres for the public.
Considering the state's last call for land-conservation proposals drew more than 50 requests that vied for a mere $3 million, a yes vote in November would likely bring a flood of ideas, said Mark DesMeules, director of the Land For Maine's Future Program.
" We rely very heavily, in fact almost primarily, on individuals, land trusts, and agencies to bring good projects forward to the board," DesMeules said.
" We don't have the staff and capability to go out and say, 'Hey, let's look at Southern Maine and identify the best five tracts of land we want to buy.'"
Although recent sales of vast chunks of Maine timberlands have prompted new calls for forest protection in the state, a committee appointed by the governor to identify land acquisition priorities has ranked forest land below other concerns, DesMeules noted.
" If the bond is approved, there's no question that coastal access, coastal islands, special lands that are close to population centers and what are referred to as 'southern Maine conservation lands' are going to be a very high priority, along with farmlands," DesMeules said.
Officially, there is no list of projects that are next in line for funding, even though dozens of solid proposals have narrowly missed approval in the past, according to DesMeules.
" Specifically, no," DesMeules said. "Those will compete with all the other proposals that come in when we issue another call for proposals. The playing field is leveled at every point."

Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance members John Schooley, left, and Ed Hinckley hold up a map of the Kennebec Highlands in Vienna and Rome, which the goup hopes to purchase.

Latest Acquisitions

This spring, the LMF program committed its last $3 million to 14 projects across the state, encompassing nearly 28,500 acres.
The choices were the toughest the board has ever made, with the largest number of projects competing for the smallest pot of money in the program's history, according to member Warren Balgooyen, a naturalist who lives in Norridgewock.
" We had $3 million and we had about $12 million in requests," Balgooyen said. "For those that failed, it wasn't so much that they didn't make the cut, it was just that we didn't have the money."
Lands that will be protected by the latest round of acuisitions include more than 30 miles of lake shore, nearly five miles of river, and more than two miles of ocean shore.
Plans were approved to buy a 22,000-acre conservation easement at Nicatous and West Lakes in Hancock County, and 76 islands within Lake Nicatous. Projects to protect critical salmon habitat along the Machias, Narragaugus and Ducktrap Rivers also were awarded money.
In Central Maine, the board approved buying 1,047 acres of the Kennebec Highlands in Vienna and Rome as part of a larger project by the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance to preserve more than 6,000 acres of mostly undeveloped land in the area.
The 230-acre Daku Farm in Farmington was one of the three farms assured protection under a plan to purchase its development rights.

Aerial views, above, of Vienna Mountain, part of the 6,000-acre Kennebec Highlands project that the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance hopes to buy.

Public Opinion

Will voters approve the public lands bond in November?
Probably, according to officials and opinion surveys.
" There is some opposition, but I think the majority of Mainers really want this ," said Dennis Bailey, spokesman for the governor.
A survey in May asked Mainers whether they would favor a $75 million bond to replenish the LMF fund. Nearly three- quarters said yes, 19 percent said no, and about 7 percent were unsure.
Support was highest in the central and western portions of the state, and strong even across party lines, although Republican support was lower (64.5 percent) than that of Democrats (79.3 percent) and Independents (71.5 percent).
Public support appears to be fueled at least in part by the massive timberland sales of the past year, Bailey said.
" I think it spooked people," Bailey said, "and it just sort of heightened awareness that this land can change hands vey quickly and we don't always have a say in what the owners are going to do with it."
DesMeules said support has always been strong in Maine for public land acquisition, but there is an urgency to it today fed by a development boom in the southern and coastal counties and by growing fears that much of what makes the state unique is in danger of being lost.
" I think there is a general sense out there that we ought to have the resources available at the state level to addess opportunities that come up when lands change hands," DesMeules said.
Maine, with just 5 percent of its acreage in the public domain, currently ranks last in the nation in terms of publicly owned land. In contrast with Maine, nearly a quarter of Massachusetts is protected as public conservation and recreation land. About 19 percent of New Hampshire's land and 15 percent of Vermont's land is similarly protected.
Conservationists point to such statistics as reasons to beef up Maine's land acquisition program, but opponents say they are missing the point.
" As a state with almost 95 percent private ownership, we are the least socialized state in the nation, at least as far as land ownership goes," said Riesman, a spokesman for Keep Maine Free, a property-rights group. "I think we should be proud of that."
Critics of publicly sponsored land buys also argue that purchases remove some lands from tax rolls and others from timber production. Supporters counter that open space often increases the value of neighboring properties.
The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine is supporting the bond, noting it will require all lands purchased to be open to hunters, anglers, and trappers, and will set aside 10 percent of the money to provide more lake and waterway access.
Foes and fans of public land acquisition are currently gearing up for campaigns leading up to the fall referendum.

The Past And The Future

Since its creation in 1987, the LMF program has acquired or protected about 67,000 acres, but that acreage makes up only a small portion of Maine's public lands.
" There's a million acres in the public domain, and that includes federal lands and state lands," DesMeules said. "That's any land that's specifically designated for some form of conservation use."
Still, in the dozen years since voters created it, the program has scored some major acquisitions, includig the purchase of Mount Kineo on Moosehead Lake, one of the state's most recognized and unique landmarks.
Although officials refuse to specultate on what the program might buy with $75 million, DesMeules said the program's general objectives remain the same, even though priorities may shift depending on what lands are considered most threatened at any given time.
" We buy lands first and fortemost for public access, and part of that is land that rises above other land as being unique or special to citizens," DesMeules said.
" We're also buying options, which maybe we don't have to exercise today, but which we won't have if we don't set these lands aside."
If voters approve the public lands bond in November, the LMF board probably would begin asking for new projects to consider sometime in the spring. Perhaps, a new round of acquisitions will be under way by the end of that year, DesMeules said.
Until then, the program's past is the public's best guide to what those acquisitions might be.
" Look at what it's done," DesMeules said, "and that's what it will be doing in the future."