A very troubling article appeared Saturday in the Lewiston Sun Journal announcing this Tuesday’s annual meeting of the Androscoggin River Watershed Council to be held at Sunday River Ski Resort. The keynote address is to be delivered by David Vail, a professor of economics at Bowdoin College. He will speak on “Tourism Strategy for Maine’s North Woods: Getting to World Class.” Mr. Vail is also a member of Gov. Baldacci’s steering committee on natural resource-based industries.

His talk will focus on efforts over the past four years to turn Maine’s Northern Forest region into a world class tourist destination. He hopes that will happen in three steps.

Part one involves shaping the 2 million acres of existing protected lands into a Great Maine Woods Recreation Area. The second and third parts involve securing federal designation of a Maine Woods National Heritage Area and helping hundreds of tourism businesses – from outfitters to restaurants – deliver world-class product quality and livable-wage jobs

More on this in a moment but the conference being held at the resort will have a focus on outdoor recreation and the economy surrounding the Androscoggin River from Lake Umbagog to Merrymeeting Bay. There will be various speakers on the subject.

The article does not make it clear as to what 2 million acres of existing “protected” lands is being referred to. With the talk of designating some or all of these areas as a National Heritage Area is something that I question whether most people are aware of. And those promoting National Heritage Areas will never tell the local businesses and in particular any of the landowners just what might be involved in such a designation.

While Maine struggles to find ways to prop up an economy that is nearly non existent is some regions, Maine people cannot give away the farm, so to speak, in order to pull off some miracle cure for economic woes. Before I look more closely at the impacts of National Heritage Areas, Mainers need to ask themselves how much money is there really to be realized by setting aside millions of acres of lands, which as National Heritage Areas would remove them from the tax rolls, in hopes of drawing tourists. What kind of tourists will this draw? And of those, how many of them are willing to spend money?

Many have talked about turning much of northern Maine into a wilderness National Park or forest, essentially closed to anything except some foot traffic in designated areas. What kind of a tourist draw is that? I never met a wilderness seeker eager to drop a few hundred dollars on a vacation retreat. Those attending the conference I’m sure will hear how National Heritage Areas are extremely profitable. Are they and at what cost?

If we examine the watershed area that will discussed at this conference, it includes the Embagog Lake area and follows the Androscoggin River, the valley and watershed all the way to Merrymeeting Bay where it joins with the Kennebec River before finally emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. This entail massive amounts of land and my guess is just about all of it is privately owned.

Efforts have been ongoing for years to clean up the Andy and much has been done. With the clean up of the river and work by some local businesses, it is being discovered as a draw to boaters and fishermen. Efforts have secured water access points, once again achieved through local effort, small business and free enterprise.

Now Mainer’s are going to have a juicy carrot dangled in front of their faces in an effort to convince them that bigger is better. Let big government take over those efforts and then see what happens.

Land is a valuable commodity, once thought of as the ultimate dream, the pinnacle of success to own such. It was a mark of prosperity. As big government gets bigger, each year demanding more of our tax dollars, combined with stricter and stricter restrictions put on what we can do with our land, the incentives to own property are diminishing.

One third of all the land in the United States in owned by the federal government. How much more do we need or want to add to that? And at what expense?

In National Heritage Areas, land is determined to be in the best interest of those given the authority to oversee the use of such lands. They are called Management Entities. What if your land becomes a parcel that the “Management Entity” deem as essential to the formation and implementation of a National Heritage Area? Are you aware that your land could be taken from you via eminent domain? Are you aware that severe restrictions could be put on you and how you can use your land that you pay taxes on?

If the water and the land that make up the Androscoggin River watershed is such a valuable commodity, then why do we think that government oversight will keep it that way? What will become of the many farm lands that make up a great deal of the watershed area? Will some entity whose special interests and personal agendas begin a systematic closing of farm lands that interfere with the “World Class Tourist Destination”? What if your land would make a great spot for a boat launch, a park or a picnic area? What are your rights? Will you have any? Is this how Americans should create “World Class Tourist Destinations”?

Free enterprise can do a pretty good job of promoting money making commodities without stealing people’s lands and telling them what they can and can’t do with it. More and more people everyday are selling their land and properties and moving into rents. Why? They can’t afford the taxes, the insurance and they are sick and tired of having land and property only for the privilege of paying more and more taxes.

Designating a few million acres of land in Maine and removing it from the tax rolls is something Maine doesn’t need. It means the few people scattered through many of these tiny communities will need to dig even deeper into their pocket books in order to pay the tax from which the base has been reduced. Designating these lands as National Heritage Areas will also strip many Mainers of their right to utilize their land as they see fit. Instead they will be forced through the land designation to use that land only in a way that is conducive to providing tourists with a National Heritage Area. Whatever happened to working with the landowners, citizens and businesses instead of strong arming them into submission?

But there is far more to these National Heritage Areas than most Americans know about. I challenge you to visit the National Center for Public Policy Research website and get more information about what’s behind this seemingly innocent effort. Follow this link to an article written by Peyton Knight of NCPPR that gives a clear example of what can happen.

There is pending legislation that would create a management entity to oversee your land. Here’s an example of one such effort being discussed as I write.

This consortium of preservation elitists and federal bureaucrats would form a “management entity,” and be given a federal mandate to create an “inventory” of all property in the area that it wants “preserved,” “managed” or “acquired” because of its “national historic significance.”

Doesn’t this already sound quite familiar? Baldacci has already ordered another one of his steering committees to inventory all the public lands and recreational easements the state has and prioritize them. And for what purpose is he doing this? Is he already making plans to dump Maine’s public lands into the hands of the federal government to be taken care of by a federally designated “management entity”? And who would become that entity?

Once groups such as the Androscoggin River Watershed Council are able to be recognized by the federal government as a “management entity”, it means access to huge earmarks and pork-barrel spending. Whether people are aware of this or not, they need to know. Perhaps some or all of the members of these groups, even those who sit on the ARWC steering committee, aren’t aware of this. Then again, maybe they are. Maybe this is what’s really behind this. Do you know? Will you ask or just take the attractive bait hook, line and sinker and then wait to see what happens. Who do you think will really reap the benefits of a National Heritage Area?

A recent report done by the Brooking’s Institute said that Maine’s biggest asset was it’s natural resources and beauty. Does that mean we should take this asset and turn it over to government? Think about it. Free enterprise has always been the best method to spur on a sluggish economy. The last thing it needs is more government, which is part of the problem facing Maine taxpayers now.

While the state looks to climb out of a deep recession hole, it can’t bury itself deeper by giving away the means to fill in the hole. Those attending this conference need to keep their focus on free enterprise and their rights as property owners before they become committed to turning Maine into a preservationists National Heritage Area.

Tom Remington