By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial Gov. Paul LePage has again threatened to withhold bond funding until he gets what he wants. This time, he is holding hostage money for the Land for Maine’s Future program — bonds voters approved in 2010 and 2012 — until he gets approval to cut more Read More
forestry
LePage Won’t Sell Conservation Bonds Without Timber Harvest Deal
The governor’s stance casts doubt on the ongoing viability of the Land for Maine’s Future program. By Kevin Miller, Portland Press Herald staff reporter Kennebec Journal news story AUGUSTA — A LePage administration official said Tuesday that Gov. Paul LePage does not plan to sell more bonds for Land for Maine’s Future projects and that Read More
Governor Puts the Brakes on Two Dozen Conservation Projects
By George Smith Bangor Daily News blog The room was packed, most unusual for a meeting of the Land for Maine’s Future Board. Extra chairs were squeezed into the small room, but some folks still had to stand. The news that Governor Paul LePage was refusing to permit the LMF Board to use bond money to Read More
LePage Plan Could Make Forestry Top Priority in Managing Public Lands
by Mario Moretto, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — Conservationists are skeptical about Gov. Paul LePage’s budget for the natural resource departments, fearful that it would open the gates for expanded commercial harvesting of state-owned property. LePage wants to do away with the state’s Bureau of Parks and Lands, which is Read More
Support of LD 39: Resolve, To Require a Review of the Merger That Resulted in the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry
Good afternoon Sen. Edgecomb, Rep. Hickman, and members of the Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee. My name is Eliza Donoghue. I am here today on behalf of the 16,000 members and supporters of the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) to speak in support of LD 39, a Resolve, To Require a Review of the Read More
Plum Creek Lumber’s ‘Green’ Certification Challenged
A watchdog group files a complaint about the logging practices of one of the nation’s largest timber producers, which owns about 865,000 acres in Maine. By Jeff Barnard, The Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A watchdog group is challenging the environmentally friendly “green lumber” certification for Plum Creek Timberlands, one of Read More
Naked Guy and Other Abuses Cause Landowner to Post Her Land
By George Smith, Maine Woods blog post Bangor Daily News After posting three columns about the sad state of landowner relations in Maine, it’s time to start telling the stories of some long-suffering private landowners. After reading the initial columns in this series on landowner relations, Pam Wells emailed me her story. Pam and her Read More
Boreal Forest: Maine Planners Stand to Learn Lessons from Canada’s Subarctic Timberlands
The challenges facing Maine and Canadian forests point up the need for overall land-use planning. by North Cairn, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story Maine’s more than 19 million acres of forest face challenges that are showing up in Canadian timberlands, too, including stresses that have decimated several species of migratory songbirds and waterfowl. Read More
Maine Acquires 5,700 Acres around Seboeis Lake
Kevin Miller Bangor Daily News news story Maine officials on Monday announced the acquisition of more than 5,700 acres of land south of Millinocket in a deal that will protect an additional 2 miles of shoreline along Seboeis Lake while securing key snowmobile and ATV routes in the region. Several years in the making, the Read More