At a Town Hall meeting last Friday in Topsham, Gov. Paul LePage decried those who use the state’s regulatory and judicial system to challenge environmental projects. LePage said, “We should not have a system where it takes you five years to have, get, obtain [sic] a permit for a project and have some dingbat file [an] erroneous lawsuit that is not gonna go anywheres [sic] except do one thing: delay. Delay, delay, delay.”

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Maine’s Department of Conservation (DOC) reports a near-record timber harvest on public reserved lands of 70,600 cords for the past winter season. The harvest, which was above that of recent years, is valued at approximately $2.23 million. These funds support maintenance, operations and public access on state lands.

The harvest involved hiring local logging contractors in 29 locations, harvesting timber across the state, and supporting more than 200 private-sector jobs. Logs were delivered to more than 40 Maine mills for value-added processing. Maine’s increased timber certification for sustainable forestry helped the harvest.

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“It’s a done deal,” said Alan Stearns of the Maine Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands. “The lands will become a multiuse playground for the people of the Millinocket area.”

After three years of negotiations, Roxanne Quimby has agreed to sell more than 5,000 acres north of Millinocket Lake to the state of Maine for $2.1 million.

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In June, 2010, loggers from across the Northeast were recognized at the Blaine House, the residence for the standing governor, for their outstanding business and sustainable harvesting practices.

“The Northeast Master Loggers Certification Board certified eleven new Master Logger companies,” said Beth Postlewaite, executive director of the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands (TCNF), as she gave out the awards. “Of the eleven companies certified, six were from Maine. This is a model for the nation.”

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A fifth Maine state park campground will open early this year because the weather is expected to be good and the park is ready, according to Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands officials.

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The great state of Maine is almost ninety percent forestlands. Viewed by satellite at night, more than the top half of the state is dark. Lights disappear, and the forest continues on like a sea. The health of these forestlands prescribes the health of a major portion of Maine’s economy. Their future is the focus of a new report that will serve as a foundation for lawmakers and potential future funding for their sustainability.

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