By George Smith Bangor Daily News blog The legislature’s Public Lands Commission has slammed the door on Governor Paul LePage’s demand that revenue in the Public Lands Bureau be diverted to purchase wood stoves for poor Mainers and other purposes. At the Commission’s Tuesday meeting, not a single voice was raised to support the governor Read More
timber harvesting
Attorney General Mills Questions LePage Plan to Divert Timber Revenue
Gov. Paul LePage wants to harvest more timber on state-owned land to pay for a home heating assistance program, but he has angered others by linking the issue to the Land for Maine’s Future program. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — Attorney General Janet Mills said a LePage administration Read More
Attorney General: LePage Probably Can’t Use Timber Harvest Profits to Pay for Heating Assistance
by A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Attorney General Janet Mills is casting doubt on plans by Gov. Paul LePage to use revenues from timber harvesting on public lands to pay for heating assistance for the poor. Citing past court opinions and restrictions in the Maine Constitution, Mills says the governor’s plan Read More
Maine People Tell Governor: You’re Wrong!
By George Smith Bangor Daily News column It is time for the Governor to realize he isn’t going to get his wish of diverting funding away from Maine’s public lands, and do the right thing: release those Land for Maine’s Future Bonds. Maine people strongly agree on this, and an opinion issued yesterday by Janet Read More
Public Lands About Much More Than Cutting Trees
By Jenn Burns Gray, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed Over the past few months, the revenue generated from the timber harvest on Maine’s public lands has been in the spotlight. The Bangor Daily News published an editorial Sept. 25 that highlights the numerous problems with Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to increase timber Read More
Reason, Science and the Law: Where LePage’s Public Forest Plans Fall Short
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
Commission Shows Little Appetite for Raiding Maine Public Lands Trust Fund
“No extra cash,” say Public Lands directors by Christine Parrish Free Press news story “This is not the State’s woodlot. It’s the people’s land. It’s our land. We hold it in trust for Maine people. It’s not just about the money we make.” — Will Harris, former director, Maine Public Lands The first hurdle for Read More
New Commission Debating Future of Our 600,000 Acres of Public Lands
All Mainers have right and responsibility to provide input on priorities to the panel. By George Smith Central Maine newspapers column We have a big stake in the work of the new Commission to Study the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund, organized by the Legislature. After all, we own those 600,000 acres of public lands. 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
