AUGUSTA (AP) – Natural resource-based businesses are both pivotal to the state’s economy and at risk of continuing to fade from prominence, according to two reports presented this week to Gov. John Baldacci.

Natural resource industries collectively make up 11.3 percent of Maine’s economy, but that figure has been declining over the past decade, sapping jobs and vitality from rural communities, the reports found.

Last month, fresh from paper mill bankruptcies and fisheries lawsuits, Baldacci convened the state’s first conference on natural resource industries, calling the embattled resource industries “the heart and soul of Maine” as well as “the backbone of our economy.”

Hundreds of those whose livelihoods depend on nature turned out for the conference, and they developed a list of 75 ways the state could help their businesses thrive.

As of Thursday, some effort has been made on 90 percent of those goals, said Dick Davies, the governor’s adviser on natural resource issues and co-chairman of the steering committee created to continue the debate, as he presented a progress report to the governor Thursday.

Davies cited progress in a recent proposal that waterfront property owners pay taxes based on the property’s current use rather than its development potential; an effort spearheaded by first lady Karen Baldacci to encourage the purchase of locally grown foods; and a University of Maine System and Maine Community College System collaboration to develop an ecotourism curriculum.

But challenges persist, said Richard Barringer, Davies’ co-chairman and a professor at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School for Public Service.

The governor also received Thursday an analysis of the health of natural resource industries, prepared by the Maine Development Foundation in cooperation with the steering committee.

Overall, natural resource industries as a portion of the economy have been declining since the mid-1990s. Jobs are on the rise, but with nearly all that growth in tourism, the statistics are less than encouraging:

-Net farm income has declined 77 percent since its 1992 peak and the number of farms has plummeted.

-The average value of Maine fisheries has peaked but almost entirely because of a boom in the lobster industry.

-Employment in forest industries fell from 26,000 in 1991 to 18,900 in 2003, although timber supplies have stabilized.

-Tourism is thriving, supporting more than 9 percent of all Maine jobs, but the numbers of hunting and fishing licenses have stagnated.

Many of the challenges, such as tax burdens for small-business owners, foreign competition and the loss of wild places to development, cut across the whole natural resource sector.

A full list of the administration’s legislative priorities will be released as the 122nd Legislature begins its work in the new year, Davies said.