Conservation Bonds Dry Up

The coffers of a land conservation program are empty because they rely on voter-approved bonds and no such proposals are scheduled on Maine’s ballots this year.

Land for Maine’s Future program last week doled out its final $9.3 million. Since 1987, the program has helped protect more than 530,000 acres through sales or conservation easements.

Although the program has been included in bond packages every other year, the Republican Party, generally reluctant to seek voter approval of new bonds, is now in control of the state legislature and the governor’s office.

“No one knows for sure what will happen,” John Piotti, a former Democratic House majority leader and now executive director of the nonprofit Maine Farmland Trust, told the Bangor Daily News. “I’m an optimist, so I hope there will be a bond [package] next year.”

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Maine
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