While members of the Land for Maine’s Future Board – all of whom were appointed by Governor LePage – are in the dark on this, many legislators and lobbyists have heard the news and have been talking about it for the past couple of weeks. Last week a key legislator in the know confirmed for me that the Governor is indeed doing this. The Governor has not issued an announcement or even an acknowledgement of this, so I am hopeful that he will change his mind and allow these terrific projects to be completed.
Paying the state’s share of these projects is the final step in completing them. And many are now in jeopardy, including my favorite, the Cold Stream Forest Project. LMF reports that the Cold Stream Project “protects 8,153 acres, including over 3000 acres of Biological Deer Wintering Area habitat north of the Forks. It includes 30 miles of streams on a major tributary to the Kennebec River, and conserves more wild brook trout pond habitat than in the rest of Northern New England.”
The LMF funds for Cold Stream match a much larger award from the USDA’s Forest Legacy Program. Cold Stream ranked #3 in the nation for the Forest Legacy program last year.
