The supporters of a land-conservation bond on November’s ballot officially launched their campaign last week.

In reality, members of the coalition have been working to bring a new land bond to Maine voters for years. The $12 million bond, on the ballot as Question 5, would fund the Land for Maine’s Future program, which was started in 1987 with a $35 million bond and revitalized in 1999 with another $50 million bond.

The program, which is enormously popular among the business, sporting and conservation communities, is out of money. Partisan bickering in the Legislature kept a bond question off the ballot last year, and the program is virtually running on empty.

Twelve million dollars is just a drop in the bucket, perhaps enough money to fund one year of conservation efforts. In his initial bond proposal, Gov. Baldacci supported a conservation bond worth $50 million. In negotiations with members of the Legislature concerned about the total borrowing package, the figure was reduced to $12 million.

Calling themselves Citizens to Save Maine’s Heritage, the pro-Question 5 folks have an easy sell. Voters in Maine have supported conservation bonding with impressive, bipartisan majorities in both 1987 and 1999, and the results are evident.

More than 139,000 acres have been acquired from willing sellers, and an another 53,500 acres have been protected through conservation easements. About 2,700 acres have been protected in Androscoggin County alone, including the Androscoggin Riverlands parcel in Turner, Hooper Pond in Greene and the Jay to Farmington Rail Trail.

The Land For Maine’s Future program requires matching contributions and depends upon support from affected communities to be successful. The partnership has protected more than 323 miles of shorefront and 75 miles of trails. It guarantees access to water in places where it has been threatened and helps working forests and farms to survive by giving landowners an option beyond development.

Ten percent of the program’s funds are set aside for farmland protection and another 10 percent for water access, especially in areas where private ownership threatens to close off the public.

As the program’s funding has run out, important opportunities for conservation have been missed. Once property is bought and broken up, it becomes nearly impossible to protect.

The Land For Maine’s Future program is a cost-effective way to help family farmers, sportsmen, fishermen, outdoor enthusiasts and conservationists protect the state’s outdoors heritage.

Maine’s open-access heritage has been predicated on a handshake and promise. The state’s timber industry has remained committed to preserving the state’s outdoor heritage. But as more and more of the property is sold to companies with interests beyond the trees, housing lots and sprawl become more common.

Question 5 gives voters the opportunity to show they support preserving open spaces throughout the state.

As the coalition’s supporters say, if we take a look around and decide we want to keep farmlands and woodlands, that we want to ensure public access to rivers, lakes and ponds, if we want to protect snowmobile and hiking trails, if we want to conserve habitat for plants and animals, then we have to act. Conservation doesn’t just happen, we have to make it happen.

A yes vote on Question 5 makes it happen.