MAINE
ANTI-FORESTRY REFERENDUM HEADS FOR BALLOT As expected, the Maine legislature's Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry Committee overwhelmingly rejected Jonathan Carter's anti-forestry ballot initiative in March, ensuring that it will appear on the Maine ballot in November, giving Carter the chance to see whether the voters are friendlier to his proposal than their elected representatives are. The initiative's three provisions would (1) require any landowner enrolled in the state's Tree Growth Tax Program to harvest no more in any single year than the average annual growth during the previous ten years; (2) require a permit for every clearcut, guaranteeing that it meets the stipulation "silviculturally justified" (and establishing a right for the "public" to intervene); and (3) constitute a new state agency-not the Maine Forest Service-to administer the rule. In the meantime, this vision of forest management has gathered ringing rejections from the Director of the Maine Forest Service, the Dean of the University of Maine's College of Natural Resources, and the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine. In addition, the Maine Municipal Association has withdrawn its initial endorsement. Back to
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