Public Policy
Maine’s 132nd Legislature is preparing to return to Augusta on January 7th. Policymakers will be taking up a few hundred bills carried over from their session that ended in June and at least another hundred new bills that will be printed in the weeks ahead.
Before the legislature adjourned in June, they created two studies with potential implications for land trusts. The first, covering property tax concerns, includes multiple reports to the legislature over the next two years, while the second, addressing public recreational access issues, requires final recommendations to the legislature in February of…
The Maine Legislature got off to a slow start in 2025, but momentum picked up in March. Committee calendars were packed with public hearings and work sessions through April and early May. Then all attention turned to the House and Senate as they deliberated on the more than 1,985 bills…
Legislative Committees in the Maine State House are entering their busiest stretch as hundreds of new bills are printed each week and schedules are packed with hearings and work sessions. At the same time, land trusts across the state continue to assess the messages coming out of Washington and look…
News from Augusta In late January, the Maine Legislature released this year’s list of bill titles, which includes over 2,100 proposals. As of late January, Maine legislators and state agencies have collaborated with nonpartisan legislative staff to finalize 376 of these proposals into formal bills. Most of the remaining…
The new version of Maine Won’t Wait maintains a goal of 30% conserved land in the state by 2030, while calling for dedicated Land for Maine’s Future funding as a strategy to get there. On November 21, the Maine Climate Council released the state’s updated four-year action plan, Maine Won’t Wait…
With November 5th fast approaching, voters across Maine and the country are being asked by one party: will America become great again? And by the other: will we save our democracy? These two questions and how they will be answered have led to much anxiety. One bright spot to focus…
If a majority of Maine voters support Question 4, the Bureau of Parks and Lands will have access to $30 million to improve trails and build new ones over the next four years. This summer, Maine Coast Heritage Trust joined with Maine Outdoor Brands, The Nature Conservancy, Maine Snowmobile Association,…
Yesterday, Governor Janet Mills announced funding for 12 new Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) conservation projects across Maine, preserving thousands of acres of farmland, undeveloped land, and vital working waterfront access for generations to come. In total, over 3,500 acres across Maine will be preserved using $3.8 million from the…
In the days leading up to their statutory adjournment date, Maine lawmakers from both sides of the aisle overwhelmingly supported two initiatives backed by the state’s land trust community: a blanket sales tax exemption for nonprofits and a $30 million Trails Bond. Sales Tax Exemption Maine currently exempts many nonprofits…
With the Maine Legislature set to adjourn in mid-April, policymakers are busy wrapping up work on what remains of the more than 2,250 bills that legislators have introduced over the past fifteen months. Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) has been tracking and promoting a variety of initiatives in 2024, including…
Over the past year, Maine Coast Heritage Trust has been advocating for changes to two unrelated state tax statutes: Sales Tax and Open Space. While the legislature’s Taxation Committee was not prepared to support either initiative in 2023, they set in motion efforts to bring the proposals back in 2024.…
The Maine Legislature returned to Augusta on January 3 to begin the second year of its two-year session. Committees are taking up hundreds of bills carried over from last spring and considering hundreds more before adjourning around mid-April. A variety of issues that are related to Maine’s land trust community…
Maine’s Legislature adjourned early in the morning on Wednesday, July 26, wrapping up seven months of work. While the session began slowly, it picked up momentum in April. Working with the Governor’s office, legislative allies, and partner organizations, the land trust community successfully supported the enactment of numerous bills that will…
It has been a busy year in Augusta and many bills related to the work of Maine’s land trust community have been in play. With roughly a month left in this year’s legislative session, here is an update on some of the key issues. Land for Maine’s Future In…
Over the next couple months, state legislative committees will be tackling most of the two thousand or so bills expected to surface in Augusta during 2023. Nearly a thousand bills have been printed as of early March. Here is an update on a few bills related to Maine land trusts.…
Before Congress adjourned at the end of 2022, they enacted a comprehensive Omnibus Spending bill that President Biden signed into law. In addition to funding the federal government for the current fiscal year ending on September 30, 2023, the bill included a variety of policy changes that will benefit land…
In mid-January, the Maine Legislature’s nonpartisan Revisor of Statutes’ office released the session’s list of legislative bill requests. Legislators were elected in November, sworn in the first week of December, and had until the end of the year to submit their legislative proposals. The list released in January includes more…
On November 8th, Maine voters will be heading to the polls to elect 186 individuals who will comprise the state’s 131st Legislature. Due to term limits and other factors, more than 40% of this year’s winners will likely be serving their first terms when they arrive in Augusta in early…
With over two dozen new LMF projects already approved in 2022, and many additional ones being prepared for future funding rounds, Maine people will soon have guaranteed access to a growing list of places to explore as they enjoy Maine’s incredible natural beauty.
Maine’s lawmakers adjourned on May 9, likely ending a two-year term marked by numerous conservation-related bills being enacted.
On April 20, Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1995, a supplemental appropriation measure broadly supported by an overwhelming majority of legislators from both parties. The final bill includes many measures that support initiatives within the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) related to the work of Maine’s land…
A December 21st Maine Voices column in the Portland Press Herald asked a series of questions about land trust practices related to property taxes, land management, and the value of conserved areas. Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s president Tim Glidden and Maine Land Trust Network Chair and York Land Trust Executive…
On October 4, the LMF Board approved changes to its Workbook and will soon be issuing a call for proposals to fund new Conservation and Recreation proposals as the program begins to invest the $40 million that Governor Mills and Maine lawmakers approved in July. A separate call for proposals…
For a number of years, we’ve highlighted our concerns about “syndication”, a tax shelter scheme that is designed to generate profits from so-called charitable donations for conservation easements. The bottom line is that syndication is bad for landowners, land trusts, and the system of fair tax deductions that promotes land…
The following editorial from David Trahan, Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, and Jeff Romano, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, was published on July 29th, 2021 in the Portland Press Herald. Headlines frequently highlight ideological divisions that too often plague our public policy debates, but State budget includes huge boost for land preservation…
With roughly a month and half remaining in the legislative session, committees are working long hours to schedule remaining public hearings and complete work on proposed legislation. Not surprisingly, it has been an unusual year in Augusta, with much of the activity taking place on-line. Last week, the Appropriations Committee…
In July of 2020, the Land for Maine’s Future Board created a workgroup to hear feedback from and discuss with cooperating entities how to collaborate most effectively in meeting shared goals to conserve natural, recreational, and working lands. The work group, which included representatives from a half dozen land conservation…
Policymakers Submit Bill Requests In late December, the Maine Legislature released bill titles submitted by legislators and State Agencies. This is the first step in the annual bill drafting process and is a good early indication of the subjects that will be addressed by Maine legislators this session (note: not…
On December 1, Governor Mills and Maine’s Climate Council released “Maine Won’t Wait: A four-year plan for climate action.”
On August 4th, President Trump signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act. The bill was supported by a strong bipartisan coalition in both the US House of Representative and the US Senate. The Great American Outdoors Act has two main components. The first calls for full and permanent funding…
In June, the Maine Climate Council received 35 recommendations developed by six working groups between November 2019 and June 2020. Governor Mills and the state legislature established the council in 2019 and asked them to deliver a proposed State Climate Action Plan by December of this year. An assembly of…
The President and Congress have agreed to three bills thus far to help American citizens, businesses, and nonprofits navigate the ongoing health and economic crisis. Some of the provisions offer potential support to land trusts and other nonprofits. The rules and paperwork for some initiatives have not yet been developed.…
E-bikes are the latest addition to the always growing list of users on land trust trails. This summer, a bill was passed in the Maine legislature that clearly defines three classes of e-bikes, provides guidance on where they may travel, outlines protections for consumers, and puts in place safety protections…
Last week, Governor Mills announced the membership of the Maine Climate Council.
In late August, the Legislature failed to enact an LMF Bond for the voters to consider this November. While clearly a setback, this is not the end of the story. LMF supporters will bring a bond proposal back in January 2020 and continue to press to see it sent to the voters, perhaps as early as June 2020.
Maine legislators adjourned on June 20, wrapping up the first year of their two-year legislative session. Despite adjourning, the legislature is likely to return for at least one day this summer to discuss bonds, included a proposed conservation bond.
In the first five months of the Mills Administration, the board has welcomed five new members. These five individuals each bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the board. And all five have a long track record of support for land conservation in Maine.
A task force seeking to shape the next generation of land conservation in Maine released its draft recommendations and is asking the public for feedback. The Task Force is calling for a new Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) bond issue along with other actions designed to strengthen land conservation and…
For the first time since 2010, Maine’s award-winning Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program grants voter-approved bond funds to land conservation projects around the state
Twenty individuals and organizations have formed a task force to shape the next generation of Maine land conservation, coming on the heels of three decades of unprecedented accomplishments
Over the past two days, both bodies of the Maine Legislature considered LD 727, a bill that called for the elimination of tax exemption eligibility for land trusts
Data from new poll finds that Maine Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, from every part of the state, overwhelmingly support the release of voter-approved Land for Maine’s Future funds
Today, July 16, 2015, Maine’s legislature failed to override the Governor’s veto of LD 1378, legislation that would have taken politics out of voter-approved state bond issues
Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that land conservation is a charitable purpose under the Maine Property Tax Exemption statute; a boon for the Maine land trust community
Robert H. Levin, Attorney at Law Last Spring, the Maine Legislature enacted significant changes to the Tree Growth and Open Space property tax programs when it passed 2012 Public Law Chapter 618 (L.D. 1138). The bill took effect on August 1, 2012, and has certain provisions that might affect land trusts,…