Land for Maine's Future Program

Public Access to Maine Water's Fund

OVERVIEW – HISTORY & NEED.

The Public Access to Maine Waters Fund, (MRSA 5 §6203-A), was created in 1993 by the Maine State Legislature and funded for the first time in the fall of 1999 when Maine voters approved the $50 million bond for the Land for Maine’s Future Program. The bond approval required a 10% set aside of funds to be used to conserve, provide, or expand citizen access to public waters; to provide a diversity of recreational opportunities; to support fishery management; and to support Maine’s recreation-based businesses and economy. The Public Access to Maine Waters Fund is managed by the Land for Maine’s Future Board.

The Fund is designed “… to get people to the water…” .

TYPES OF PUBLIC ACCESS to Coastal and Inland Rivers, Lakes, and Ponds.

LMF accomplishes this work through support for the acquisition of fee simple or public access rights on small parcels of land which create or enhance access points to lakes, ponds, rivers, and coastal waters. Access is primarily intended for general public use but may be used by those requiring it for commercial purposes provided that such commercial use does not exclude other uses by the general public. Lands for access could support: a facility for swimming, hand-carried, small watercraft, (i.e. canoes, kayaks), or trailered boats; provide bank fishing, worming, as well as access for clamming opportunities in coastal settings.

The LMF Board is actively encouraging state agencies, recreational and fishing organizations, conservation organizations, and municipal officials to identify and develop projects that will provide enhanced and additional public access to the water.

WATER ACCESS PROJECTS COMPLETED.

“Public Access to Maine Waters” funds have supported the completion of the following Water Access projects:

Project Name	Community where Located	Project Acres
Androscoggin River - Canton	Canton	52 +/-
Big Falls- Grand Lake Stream	T27 ED BPP	.60 +/-
Bear River Rips	Hanover	4.7 +/-
Clary Lake	Jefferson	5.0 +/-
Cold Rain Pond	Naples	20 +/-
Gardiner Riverfront Park	Gardiner	1.93 +/-
Jacob Buck Pond	Bucksport	2.49 +/-
Middle Bay	Brunswick	5.48 +/-
Mill Pond Park	Swan Island	10.0 +/-
Pettegrow Beach	Machiasport	1.8 +/-
Pocomoonshine Lake	Princeton	1.3 +/-
Presumpscot River Bridge- Walton Property	Falmouth	4.4 +/-
Presumpscot River Falls	Falmouth	4.0+/-
Prong Pond	Greenville	3.0+/-
Round Pond- The Pines	Livermore	19.0 +/-
Shawmut – Kennebec River	Fairfield	32.8 +/-
Tidal Falls	Hancock	4.0 +/-
Tibbetts Pond	Concord Twp	9.5+/-
Westport Island	Westport	2.0 +/-
Worthley Pond	Peru	0.7 +/-

The majority of water access sites are acquired, developed, and managed by – or with assistance from – ME Department of Conservation and ME Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. Unlike land projects primarily aimed for conservation and recreation or farmland protection, water access projects can be brought to the LMF Board at any time, whenever they are ready to be reviewed and supported. Because of the scarcity of good sites and the high level of competition for waterfront property, this “expedited” process can be engaged outside the normal cycle of LMFB’s project solicitations.

For Further Information about submitting a proposal and application materials the Land for Maine’s Future Program, a Proposal Workbook is available on request and is also available online.

The LMF Board’s basic criteria for evaluating the priority of a given site are:

Location of the water in relation to population centers and other water access sites;
Size of the water body and the diversity of recreational opportunities it offers;
Level of and proximity to existing public access sites and access needs;
Value of fisheries opportunities based on ME Dept.IF&W and ME Dept. of Marine Resource’s evaluation;
Expected demand and diversity of uses of the site, current or anticipated;
Threat of conversion to other uses, especially private development;
Need for public access as established by LMF’s partner agencies.

IMPORTANT BOARD POLICIES.

The Land for Maine’s Future Board follows well-established policies and guidelines when it makes decisions on which projects to fund. Worth noting here:

Willing Seller: The Board only deals with landowners who have expressed a willingness to sell.
Appraised Value: To ensure fairness and good value, purchase price is limited to the value established through a complete, professional appraisal.
Match: The LMF financial contribution must be matched with other funds at the rate of 50 cents for every $1.00 of LMF funds.

MAINE STATE AGENCY CONTACTS.

ME STATE AGENCY	Agency Contact Name	Mailing Address	Telephone	Email address
Maine Department of Conservation http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks	George Powell	Bureau of Parks & Lands 22 State House Station Augusta, Maine 04333	(207) 287-4952	george.powell@maine.gov
ME Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife http://www.maine.gov/ifw	Leon Bucher	41 State House Station Augusta, Maine 04333	(207) 287-8000	leon.bucher@maine.gov
State Planning Office Maine Coastal Program http://www.maine.gov/spo/coastal	Jim Connors	38 State House Station Augusta, Maine 04333	(207)287-8938	jim.connors@maine.gov

Water Access Projects can include:

The purchase of existing public access sites,
Land needed to augment or expand existing sites, and
Facilities and larger conservation projects where a section of the property could be used as an access site with supporting access facilities.