Vote Yes on 5

The Land for Maine's Future bond is a $12 million bond proposal that, if passed, will leverage at least an additional $7 million for a total of $19 million to protect Maine Land from development.

The LMF program, through two prior bond initiatives, has provided $85 million since 1987 that has been used to protect wild lands and farm lands from development. According to the Maine Land Bond web site, the LMF program has protected over 120 parcels of land, helping to preserve Maine's rural culture, and maintain wild lands for recreational use. According to a 2004 report issued by the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy, and USM's New England Environmental Finance Center of the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, the LMF program is an "investment in the future of Maine's environment, economy, and cultural heritage....(Mainers should view LMF) not as an end in itself, but as a tool or instrument of their larger abiding purposes: sustainable economic development, environmental stewardship, and community building." Furthermore, "In addition to recreational and ecological impacts, changes in land use can have improtant economic effects on Maine communities. Throughout the state, there is recognition that natural resources have economic value beyond their potential for extraction or development. "

There are more than 100 businesses and governmental units in the coalition who recognize the importance of continuing to protect Maine's rural heritage for future generations. I fully support the bond initiative, and hope all will vote yes on November 8.