PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 13, 2022
Decades of conflict between Maine’s government and the state’s indigenous people will take center stage at the State House this week. A legislative panel Tuesday will hold a hearing on two bills – L.D. 1568 and L.D. 1626 – that would implement the recommendations of a 13-member task force appointed by the Legislature to study the matter in 2019. The legislation was originally to have been debated two years ago, but was delayed first by the onset of the pandemic and again last year when legislators were overwhelmed by the backlog of bills. The package would greatly enhance the tribes’ powers over land use, natural resources, environmental measures, taxation and other matters on tribal land.