Northern Border Commission will spark collaboration between four forested states

As a Mainer, I was raised to respect and cherish our natural heritage and rural traditions, and I feel fortunate to have spent many impressionable years working and exploring Maine’s northern woods as a young woman. In today’s hectic and superficial world of cellular phones and the Internet, these vast forests and remote waters provide us with freedom and renewal, while supporting close-knit rural communities that have strong economic and cultural connections to the land.

With so many global economic forces at play, I am increasingly concerned about maintaining the integrity of our special places and rural people. The challenge: How can we protect our natural heritage and rural integrity while cultivating economic vitality and community health?

Thanks to leadership from Rep. Michael Michaud, the House of Representatives on Oct. 4 passed his new “Northern Border Economic Development Commission Act” to help do just that. This new legislation will foster greater collaboration among Maine and the other three northern forest states – New York, Vermont and New Hampshire – on economic development, transportation, forestry and resource conservation, while providing new federal funding to help local communities leverage their natural assets into economic opportunities for the future.

As most Mainers know, our Maine woods and the broader northern forest have seen a historic shift in land ownership over the last decade, with traditional industrial owners selling vast blocks of working forestland and diverse new owners taking their place. That has led to new challenges for the $15 billion per-year forest products industry in the northern forest, worsening the challenges posed by new global competition. It has also led to loss of public access for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and other activities that define our way of life in Maine.

In addition to a shifting land base, the northern forest is feeling the same fundamental economic challenges as other rural regions due to the lack of necessary technology, infrastructure and other tools to fully compete in the new economy.

Fortunately, communities in Maine and across the northern forest have all of the assets needed to transition to a new economy if they can get appropriate state and federal support to match local efforts. After all, there are few regions in the county as blessed in “green infrastructure” of natural resources and beauty. In an increasingly uncertain world, our forests are the geese that will continue to lay golden eggs of economic activity and quality of life.

The region is also blessed with tremendous social capital through citizens who are passionately connected to their communities. While in many areas of the country neighbors feel increasingly disconnected, communities in the Maine Woods are still closely knit by the unique qualities of a rural life closely tied to the land. Given opportunities and tools, our rural communities have an outstanding track record of rallying together to make big things happen.

That is where Rep. Michaud’s bill comes in. The Northern Border Economic Development Commission Act will create a new regional commission comprised of the four northern forest states’ governors plus one federal representative. The group will be charged with thinking carefully about the region’s future and assuring cross-border coordination where appropriate to support economic development and conservation.

Although planning and coordination is important, any great plan also requires resources for implementation. The bill provides an authorization of up to $40 million annually of federal funding to be distributed by the commission for a wide range of projects, including transportation, technology, community development, forest products marketing, and land conservation.

Michaud was not alone in his efforts, thanks to co-sponsorship from Rep. Tom Allen and a bipartisan delegation from the other three northern forest states. While the bill still has to pass the Senate, it has strong support there from Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins, who introduced identical companion legislation in the last Congress.

If the Northern Border Commission bill makes it all the way to the president’s desk, it would give the northern forest region coordination to leverage our assets and the federal funding to turn this vision into reality. Those who love the northern forest should thank Michaud and Maine’s entire delegation for their leadership.

Deb Perkins is the Maine projects director for the Northern Forest Alliance and enjoys bird hunting and canoeing in Northern Maine. She lives in Augusta.