PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 23, 2026
While it’s well known that our publicly accessible lands and waters are a proven ingredient in building healthy lives, healthy communities and a healthy economy, our state’s most effective tool for bringing more of these benefits to more Mainers has run dry. Launched in 1987, Land for Maine’s Future has been a truly nonpartisan success story, protecting more than 300 places for their natural and recreational values in all 16 of Maine’s counties. Land for Maine’s Future was last funded in 2021 after nearly a decade of inactivity and all the funding from 2021 has already been allocated to a backlog of projects. While there are multiple proposals currently in our Legislature that will fund Land for Maine’s Future at some level, none of them will come to fruition without our broad and vocal support. ~ Betsy Cook, Trust for Public Land, and Jenny Kordick, Maine Outdoor Brands