By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story A conservation group that took a stand 40 years ago to protect the Bigelow range in western Maine has re-emerged to draw public attention to state policies they say could endanger the public lands. The Friends of Bigelow say the LePage administration is ignoring state law, forestry science and Read More
timber harvesting
How Maine Can Move Beyond a Damaging Debate Over Its Public Forests
By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial The last day of the 2016 legislative session didn’t go Gov. Paul LePage’s way for the most part, with lawmakers overriding more than 60 percent of the vetoes the governor put before them. But LePage got his way on one issue over which he’s been at Read More
Maine Biomass Bailout Would Tap $13.4 Million in Public Funds
An amended proposal shifts the burden of the rescue plan from electricity ratepayers to taxpayers. By Steve Mistler, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — Lawmakers’ effort to bail out Maine’s six remaining biomass energy plants has shifted from a rescue subsidized by Maine electricity ratepayers to one subsidized by Maine taxpayers. After Read More
Landowner Seeks to Prevent Logging on Parcel Near Baxter State Park
By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story TOWNSHIP 4, RANGE 8, Maine — A part owner of a parcel of environmentally sensitive land near Baxter State Park is pursuing legal action to keep state foresters from harvesting wood on the property. Atkinson resident Charles Fitzgerald filed a petition to partition land Read More
NRCM Testimony In Support of LD 1629, “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund”
Senator Edgecomb, Representative Hickman, and members of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. My name is Eliza Donoghue. I am here today to speak on behalf of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and our 16,000 members and supporters in support of LD 1629, An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study Read More
Plan for Development in the UT Through Zoning, Not Weakened Standards
By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial Land owners, developers and residents of the state’s Unorganized Territory have long complained that it is too hard to subdivide land and build houses there. Currently, the Land Use Planning Commission is considering easing a longtime restriction on subdivisions throughout the entire 10 million acres of Read More
It’s Time for Debate Over LePage’s Timber-for-heat Plan to End Once and For All
By The BDN Editorial Board Gov. Paul LePage has insisted for more than a year that contractors cut more timber from state-owned forests and that the state use the additional revenue to fund heating upgrades for low-income, rural households. Fortunately, reason has repeatedly prevailed in the face of a proposal that has lacked a sound Read More
LePage Agrees to Release $5 Million in Land Conservation Bonds, Criticizes Lawmakers
The governor will issue voter-approved bonds for the Land for Maine’s Future program, which he has been trying to use as leverage to advance a home heating assistance program. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story Gov. Paul LePage said Monday that he will sell $5 million in bonds for the Land Read More
Task Force Balks at LePage Plan to Divert State Timber Revenues for Home Heating
Citing constitutional restrictions, the commission spurns the governor’s idea to fund the home heating program with income from expanded logging on public lands. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — A task force has recommended against using revenues from logging on state-owned lands to help low-income Mainers heat their homes, Read More
