To the editor:

I want to thank Rep. Kim Olsen of Phippsburg for opposing legislation that could destroy the Land Use Regulation Commission.

LURC serves as the planning board and codes enforcement office for the Maine’s 10.5 million acre Unorganized Territories. Rep. Olsen showed independence and integrity in opposing provisions of LD 1798, a bill that is being heavily promoted by the governor and other leaders of her party.

My consulting forestry business takes me to all the major forest regions of the U.S., east of the Great Plains, and I can confirm that there is no place similar to the remote, extensive forests in the Unorganized Territories of Maine.

Two of the worst elements of the bill before the Maine Legislature would allow elected county commissioners to appoint themselves to LURC, and it would also allow counties in that region to opt out of LURC entirely.

County commissioner campaign contributions from the deep pockets of out-of-state companies, which own most of the northern forest, would effectively allow corporate interests to buy representation and influence on LURC.

Allowing counties to opt out of the LURC jurisdiction is a bad idea because they are not equipped to plan for or politically inclined to manage remote tracts of forest for values of statewide and national significance.

Rep. Olsen has opposed both of these changes, which would likely result in the loss of the Maine Woods as we know them today. I urge her to also oppose substituting the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s permit process for that of LURC, because the DEP rules do not address the unique character of the northern forest.

Robert Bryan,
Harpswell

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