The Damariscotta River Association has already purchased Crow Island, but Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s decision to withhold conservation funds could deal “a real blow” to the project and the association.
The Land for Maine’s Future Board approved a $75,000 grant for the Crow Island campaign July 15, 2014. The DRA raised the bulk of the $242,000 campaign goal from private sources.
The DRA used the grant award letter to secure a loan from Maine Coast Heritage Trust, which makes low-interest conservation loans to partner organizations. The DRA purchased the island Feb. 6.
Later the same month, Land for Maine’s Future told grant recipients the program could not “make funds available to applicants,” according to DRA Executive Director Steven Hufnagel.
The program has $2,247,767 in cash and another $11.47 million in yet-to-be-sold bonds as of Jan. 1, according to Hufnagel.
Roughly three-fifths of voters approved Land for Maine’s Future bonds in 2010 and 2012 – 59.37 percent in 2010 and 60.76 in 2012, according to official election results.
LePage has yet to sign off on the sale of the bonds, however, despite agreeing to do so when the Maine Legislature approved his proposal to pay off $484 million in debt to the state’s hospitals in 2013.
The governor will not allow Land for Maine’s Future to spend the cash it has on hand either, at least until he and his staff review each individual project.
“He’s not just saying no more borrowing, he’s saying, potentially, no spending of the funds already in hand, but in either case, they’re pledged. They’re promised,” Hufnagel said.
The governor “is threatening to withhold already-awarded money,” Hufnagel said. “He’s already held the same funds hostage once and has threatened to do so again.”
LePage administration officials have indicated the governor will not release the bonds until the Legislature agrees to his plan to increase timber harvests on state land. The governor wants to use the revenue from this increase to fund a program that would provide energy-efficient heating systems to low-income households.
The loss of the $75,000 grant for Crow Island would hamper the DRA’s ability to carry out its mission, Hufnagel said.
“Until we could come up with the funds, which would be a long way out, at best, it would be a real blow to the project, a real breach of trust with the state program that we’ve had decades, literally decades, of incredibly positive experience with,” beginning with the collaborative effort to conserve Dodge Point in 1989, he said.
The conservation of a tiny, uninhabited island off South Bristol might not make or break the region’s economy, but other projects are at stake that would provide significant economic benefits in the form of public recreation and tourism, Hufnagel said.
“We are working with fellow conservation groups across the state to alert the governor to the damage this could cause to great work happening in communities everywhere,” Hufnagel said.
LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett responded to several questions from The Lincoln County News about Land for Maine’s Future in general and the Crow Island grant in particular with a statement essentially identical to one another administration official provided to the Portland Press Herald:
“The State of Maine owns 800,000 acres of public land. This is now non-taxable land. At this time, the Governor is not interested in purchasing additional land. However, the Governor does support some Land for Maine’s (Future) projects.
“The Governor and staff are reviewing the LMF Board’s approved projects to better understand the financial needs of the program. Many projects do not require funding until 2016 and 2017. It is within the Governor’s authority to issue bonds within five years.
“Several of the organizations that are now demanding LMF funding opposed providing Mainers with money to keep their homes warm in the cold winter months. The state already has 800,000 acres of public land, but Mainers need help upgrading to more energy-efficient systems that would make it much more affordable to heat their homes.
“Governor LePage will once again propose providing $5 million from the annual timber harvest on public lands to drive down heating costs for the Maine people. Especially after the brutally cold winter we just endured, supporting this proposal to help keep Mainers warm should be a no-brainer for these organizations.”
