AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Gov. Janet Mills on Friday proposed $140 million worth of bonds for transportation improvements and land conservation.
The proposal includes $40 million over four years to conserve land through the Land for Maine’s Future Program, honoring the memory of George Smith, the late director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, the Democratic governor said.
Another $100 million would maintain and upgrade the state’s transportation system through the Maine Department of Transportation, she said.
Mills counted Smith, who died in February after battling ALS, as a friend, and she said he championed the Land for Maine’s Future Program.
“As we push full speed ahead on our economic recovery, now is the time to conserve in perpetuity the natural resources that form the backbone of our rural economy,” the governor said.
The bond package, which requires legislative approval, was pared down from what the governor previously proposed in her State of the Budget address.
She said she was able to utilize federal stimulus money to meet other needs she’d targeted. For example, she already proposed $50 million for immediate transportation needs in addition to the bond proposal.
The Lands for Maine’s Future Program has conserved nearly 604,000 acres since it was created by voters in 1987. But the fund is nearly depleted.
David Trahan, the current director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said additional funding is needed to ensure that land is protected for recreation and wildlife habitat as well as helping natural resource-based industries.
“People have flocked to Maine’s public lands and wild areas this past year, reminding us that the need to revitalize Maine’s preeminent land conservation program has never been greater,” he said.
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