By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial Gov. Paul LePage says he’s giving up on the Legislature, but there’s no indication he’s backing down from his effort to cut more wood from the state’s public lands and set aside the revenue so rural, low-income households can afford to upgrade to lower cost heating Read More
Land for Maine's Future
The Deep Roots of Maine’s Land Conservation
Every month, I hike or ski or camp or enjoy the beach on lands in Maine that have been set aside for the public to enjoy. In my neighborhood alone, I can take the family to Dodge Point in Newcastle, Damariscotta Lake State Park, or the Camden Hills. With a longer drive, I can enjoy Read More
LePage Should Stick to His Word, Keep Hands Off Land for Maine’s Future Board
By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial Gov. Paul LePage’s pledge to detach himself even further from the job of governing and indefinitely hold off on making appointments to a range of state boards and commissions is, no doubt, an abdication of the governor’s duties. But it could be the best news yet Read More
No Need to Cut Public Forests to Achieve LePage’s Heating Goal
By Ralph Chapman, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to aid “fellow Mainers who are most in need” with home heating assistance deserves further consideration, as it is a worthy goal. Most of the attention to his plan has focused on problems with his proposed source of funding (increased Read More
Alternate Funding Allows Blueberry Hill, Knights Pond Conservation Purchase
The towns of Cumberland and North Yarmouth, along with three conservation groups, buy a 215-acre tract that had been endangered by a political fight over Lands for Maine’s Future bond money. By Matt Byrne, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story A coalition of private conservation groups and two towns have pooled resources to buy Read More
Land for Maine’s Future Too Vulnerable to Governor’s Whims
The structure of the popular conservation program should be changed so one person can’t stall it unilaterally. By The Editorial Board Portland Press Herald editorial Members of the Land for Maine’s Future board have a right to be angry. For years, the program has worked without a hitch. A bond was approved by the Legislature Read More
Land for Maine’s Future, LePage At Odds over Voter-Approved Bonds
By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine — Hamstrung by a governor who refuses to release voter-approved conservation bonds and who has now frozen their assets, members of the Land for Maine’s Future board want lawmakers to provide a legislative solution to their funding problems. Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves and Falmouth Sen. Cathy Read More
LePage Cabinet Members Skip Land for Maine’s Future Meeting
By Christopher Cousins, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — The Land for Maine’s Future board of directors convened another meeting Tuesday without a quorum and was unable to vote on projects that have been awaiting action for months. Among those absent from Tuesday’s meeting were all three members of Gov. Paul Read More
LePage Cabinet Members Again Skip Land for Maine’s Future Board Meeting
Board members express their frustration with the governor’s intervention as he tries to assert control over the state’s largest land conservation program. By Steve Mistler, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA –– Three of Gov. Paul LePage’s Cabinet members did not attend a board meeting for the Land for Maine’s Future program on Read More