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Parks and Public Lands

Where I Stand

One of Maine’s defining features is our land; from the rocky coast to the mountains and pine forests, these natural resources are what make Maine such a special place. Maine is also home to one of the most popular National Parks in the county, – Acadia National Park. The public and private conservation lands in our state not only provide recreation for Maine people but also help drive our state’s economy.

In fact, visitation on state and federal lands has dramatically increased over the last several years. With this increased visitation, it is important to balance access to public lands with continued protection for future generations through private and state conservation efforts that compliment federal resources.

What I've Done

  • Serve as Chair of the Senate National Parks Subcommittee.
  • Led the effort to pass the Great American Outdoors Act. This bill combined two popular efforts: first, permanent and mandatory funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and second, my Restore Our Parks Act, which provides additional funding to land management agencies to help address deferred maintenance.
    • The bill has resulted in millions of dollars of funding for programs across the country — in Maine, more than 1,500 projects have been funded by LWCF since 1965, resulting in nearly $227 million in funding coming to the state.
    • The Great American Outdoors Act is also helping to address deferred maintenance projects at federal land management agencies — projects that get delayed because there isn’t sufficient funding and eventually require more funding because of the delay.
      • In Maine, Acadia National Park received nearly $8 million to repair water and wastewater distribution systems and another nearly $33 million to replace an outdated maintenance building.
  • Led the bill to designate Hancock and Washington Counties as the Downeast National Heritage Area. This is Maine’s first National Heritage Area, which is a designation that helps recognize areas where historic, cultural, and natural resources combine to form cohesive, nationally important landscapes.
  • Helped pass a bill to designate the York River as a part of the National Parks Service’s Wild and Scenic River system. This designation will help protect the river from future development and provides federal funding to the region.
  • Helped pass legislation to allow the transfer of a parcel of land from Acadia National Park to the Town of Bar Harbor. This will allow the town to develop affordable housing – which is in critical shortage on the island – and part of the parcel will be used by the National Park Service to construct employee housing for park employees.
  • Helped pass legislation that clarifies boundary issues affecting Acadia National Park and the surrounding communities, protects the use of intertidal zones by harvesters of clams and worms, and permanently reauthorizes the Acadia National Park Commission, among other provisions.