Question 4: for Maine's Natural Resources

So many of our family traditions, recreational activities and livelihoods are tied to Maine’s landscape - our farmlands, coast, islands, lakes, mountains, forests and rivers. Our pride as Maine people relates to these connections, whether as farmers, guides, business people, hikers, hunters, snowmobilers, campers or fishermen.

When we vote for the $35.5 million natural resources bond, we’ll be investing in programs that protect what is special about our lands and waters. Nearly half the funds ($17 million) will provide new funding for the Land for Maine’s Future Program which has helped towns, citizens groups and state agencies conserve land for water access, outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat and productive forests and farms. For twenty years and in every county, this program has secured public access for today and tomorrow.

Our state parks and historic sites, many as familiar as our backyards, provide nearby access to the outdoors as well as a connection to our past. Funding provided in the bond is critically needed for long deferred maintenance and improvements, so that we can continue to enjoy and be proud of these outstanding resources. The bond includes funds for the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program which helps Maine’s commercial fishermen hold onto the coastal access land sales have been stripping away. Today working waterfronts cover a mere 20 miles along Maine's 5,300-mile coastline yet they supply the lifeblood of many coastal communities.

Funds are also included to revitalize our riverfront communities, creating an essential link between our town’s economic life and the rivers on which their founders first settled. Like the Working Waterfront initiative and the Land for Maine’s Future program before it, this too will be a national model for investing in our key strategic advantage, the exceptional quality of the place we live and the people who keep it that way.