About 86 percent of Maine is forested, the highest percentage of any state. Much of the land is held by land trusts, some is owned by the state as public reserved land, and some is held by private corporations for logging and other industrial purposes.

Towns and settlements are few and far between, but in those between spaces, those who feel that they are beyond the reach of civilization feel that they are beyond the reach of the law as well.

All kinds of things happen in the forests, from illegal poaching and squatting, to growing hidden fields of marijuana, to stealing timber, to trash dumping or vandalism.

Right now, 74 rangers patrol 86 percent of the state. It’s not nearly enough as it is.

So, when you’re hellbent on balancing a budget to give a tax cut to the wealthiest Mainers, why not get rid of a good percentage of the already inadequate number of people who patrol Maine’s forests? Absolute genius. Except the plan doesn’t save any money.

What the Governor’s proposal does is eliminate 20 — that’s 27 percent — of the forest ranger positions. Seven of those jobs are currently vacant, but 13 people have been notified that they would be laid off if the budget passes as written.

In exchange, a new group of seven “natural resources law enforcement officers” would do all law enforcement for the entire 86 percent of the state covered in forest. The remaining rangers would be stripped of law enforcement responsibilities, and would focus on fighting wildfires, forest health issues and pest management.

Maine does have invasive pest threats at its border, including the emerald ash borer and spruce budworm, and more people are needed to look for these potentially devastating bugs.

The change occurs less than a year since LePage vetoed a bill that would have allowed forest rangers to carry weapons because they investigate crimes in very remote parts of the state. He cited costs and training concerns. Rangers had wanted training and weapons because they were encountering dangerous situations, such as mobile meth labs, with more regularity, in addition to large animal encounters. Instead, they currently carry pepper spray and handcuffs.

The new natural resources officers would be trained like any other law enforcement officers.

The Rangers aren’t happy, and question whether six individuals plus one supervisor can adequately patrol such a huge, heavily forested area. It’s a very good question, and one that has yet to be answered to anyone’s satisfaction.

The proposal would also change the number of bureaus within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The Bureau of Parks and Lands would be eliminated, and their tasks would be split between the Bureau of Conservation, which would manage state parks, and the Bureau of Forestry, which would handle public reserved lands.

That change leads to questions about whether or not LePage is planning to exploit additional reserved lands for forestry, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Audubon Society, who function as watchdogs for the public reserved lands, are concerned. Last year, the LePage administration proposed increasing the amount of timber harvesting on reserved lands.

The changes won’t save Maine a dime, so the rationale appears to be something other than fiscal stewardship. We hope the Appropriations Committee will ask what that rationale is, and act accordingly.