MOOSEHEAD LAKESHORE JOURNAL • October 16, 2025
Maine has the least amount of Public Land in New England at 6.9%, but a long tradition of public access to private land. In recent years, this has caused more conflict than perhaps ever before. Maine Senate Bill 1308, passed on June 11, directs two state agencies to examine the issue. On Tuesday, September 23 in Augusta, a group of 12 stakeholders met to begin the discussion. One catalyst for this was the increase in major storm events that have caused road or infrastructure damage. In many cases, these have made public access difficult, and oftentimes the landowners don’t have the resources available to correct the issue. Another driver was changing land access policies. For example, new owners not allowing what was previously allowed, sometimes for generations. Tom Doak, representing small woodland owners, said landowners are “seeing a much more intrusive use of their land.” This includes increasingly large ATVs, “snowmobiles going 100 mph,” e-bikes, off-trail recreation and cameras. “If we don’t deal with that,” he said, “then we will be losing access in big chunks.” Very few solutions were put forward.