A coalition is forming with members from around the state to support a new bond to fund The Land for Maine’s Future program.

Legislation will be considered this year to place a bond of $100 million or more on the ballot.

There’s no doubt that the Land for Maine’s Future has had major successes. With funding from bonds in 1987 and 1999, the program has completed more than 115 land protection projects in all 16 Maine counties, guaranteed public access to more than 175,000 acres of land, and, along with other groups, protected millions of acres.

Local projects have included Mt. Blue-Tumbledown, the Jay to Farmington Trail, land around the Androscoggin River in Turner and Leeds and many others.

We are enthusiastic supporters of The Land for Maine’s Future. The program protects native plants and animals, promotes sustainable forestry and guarantees public access to wilderness areas. The LMF has brought together a diverse group of supporters ranging from Appalachian Mountain Club to the Windham Land Trust, with hunters, trappers, sportsmen, snowmobilers and bird watchers in between.

The Land for Maine’s Future is used as a model for conservation efforts around the country. It has a fair process that listens to the wishes of property owners and conservationists. With more recent projects, it has begun to set aside money to manage its acquisitions.

As more and more land in Maine changes hands, great tracts that have been open for traditional uses could be lost. Hunting, fishing and hiking could be closed off by gates, fences and “No Trespassing” signs.

There’s bipartisan support for the bond, which is likely to appear on the November ballot. The only question that remains is how big of a bond can the state, and its taxpayers, afford.


Witch hunt


Teresa Chambers, at least for a little while longer, is the chief of the United States Park Police.

She told the truth during an interview with the Washington Post about staffing shortages and the greater demands brought on by heightened threats of terrorism. For that, she is being fired.

The National Park Service, which oversees the Park Police, has put the chief on administrative leave pending her ultimate dismissal, unless someone stops this outrageous attack.

Is it a question of national security that there are fewer patrols on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway? Or that fewer officers, because of increased duty around such attractions as the Washington Monument, are patrolling smaller parks in D.C.? Or that officers are being forced to work 12-hour shifts because there aren’t enough resources to get the job done with eight-hour days? No way.

This is a witch hunt.

As Timothy Noah, writing for the online magazine Slate, points out: “If you’ve ever wondered why so much that you read in the newspaper is attributed to anonymous government sources, consider the sad story of Teresa C. Chambers, the first woman ever appointed to run the U.S. Park Police.”

Chambers is fighting her dismissal. Here’s hoping she wins.
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