People present at today's at the public access committee meeting were the
five committee members, Tom Morrison of Bureau of Public Lands, Rep. John
Morrison of Baileyville, David Peppard of IF&W and myself. The meeting was
held primarily to discuss what should be put in the final "interim" report to
the full ACF Committee. The OPLA gals, Jill Ippoliti and Danielle Fox had
prepared a discussion sheet that sort of boiled down the recommendations to
six legislative recommendations. They were:

1. Authorize continuation of the Committee to Study Public Access to Public
and Private Lands in Maine. Current members to serve. Final report date of
December 5, 2001.
2. Require land purchased and conservation easements acquired by the State to
contain provisions assuring public access to the land. A set of standard
provisions would be required for land and easements acquired with monies from
the Land For Maine's Future Funds, Public Access to Maine Waters Fund or
other state and federal funds administered by the Departments of Conservation
and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Committee to discuss standard provisions
and types of access.
3. Exempt private landowners from penalties for violations of certain
environmental laws when it is evident that the landowner is not responsible
for the violation. Committee saw no need to submit a bill on this as Rep.
John Martin already has a bill in to deal with this issue.
4. Amend 12MRSA, section 3860 (Great Ponds Act) to define "great pond" to
include lakes formed by construction of man-made dams (that includes
impoundments). They made note of Joey Clark's bill, An Act to Provide Free
Access to Any Great Pond Controlled by a Dam.
5. Require the State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) to be
updated every 5 years.
6. Develop incentives for keeping private land open to public recreation.
Senator Kilkelly has a bill in that would provide for some sort of income tax
relief for landowners that allow public access.

A substantial amount of discussion ensued, primarily by Kilkelly, Carr, and
Volenik and I hope I have this somewhat accurate. As I understood it, all
five members agreed on just one basic general issue at this time. All agreed
that any future purchase of land or easement rights by the State could not be
consumated without a guarantee of access to get there. It was not clear to me
whether or not that meant "free" except that Volenik insisted that it should
be free. I believe the intent of the committee is for it to be free. The
committee was in agreement in concept of user activities and fees after you
got to the land. This would be somewhat as exists in the Integrated Resource
Management Plan and that would be left up to BPL to decided costs of
management and the necessity or non-necessity of charging any user fee at
all. It was also agreed that no land could be purchased by the State unless
the seller conveyed all the rights to the State that were his to convey.

A discussion was had about the businesses presently being harmed that are
behind the gates. Kilkelly's conclusion was that the committee had done the
best it could in last spring's negotiations by getting access fee reductions
with North Maine Woods.

Kilkelly also stated that she could not see a Legislative solution to the
leaseholder access problem and so that is left unresolved. There is a belief
that legislative relief is prevented because of the "taking" without
restitution clause in our Constitution.

It is my understanding that the final interim report will be submitted to the
full ACF committee of February 15. I think they scheduled one more meeting
before then but I didn't catch the date.

As you can see by what I've written, nothing more is proposed in this interim
report to deal with existing gate fees, North Maine Woods or what presently
exists for public access problems.

I mentioned earlier the presence of Rep. Morrison from Baileyville. He is a
new Rep. and we hit it off because we know the same good people in Grand Lake
Stream (David Tobey). He was inspired to put in a bill after reading about
the Malone purchase of Spencer Lake. He showed me a concept bill he had
prepared, the intent of which was to provide motor vehicle access to all
great ponds. He is not very knowledgeable about existing law or the great
ponds act. He did not fully understand that we already have foot access over
unimproved lands. After hearing the discussion of the committee, he was going
to withdraw his bill but I talked him out it. So his bill will have the words
motor vehicle I hope. The statutory language still has to written up by OPLA.

After the meeting terminated, Rod Carr and I had a fairly extensive
conversation with Tom Morrison. He briefed us thoroughly on the John's Bridge
AAW issue and why there was never a permit issued for the replacement of
Churchill Dam. Just something that slipped through the cracks of his office
and Corp of Engineers as well. There is another meeting of the ACF committee
tomorrow at 1:30, Room 206, State office building. Tom Doaks, Chief of
Forestry will present a report. There is also a possibility that Olsen will
make an appearance and talk about the AWW, the dam permit, and the carry-in
access. Olsen, if you recall, is the pot stirrer that is the cause of the
lawsuit filed against the State. Should be an interesting meeting tomorrow.

I'll close by making a subject evaluation of Tom Morrison and the ongoing
West Branch Easement purchase. Tom emphatically stated that public access
(and I took him to mean free) is one the basic or fundamental considerations
in the purchase. His knowledge was constantly sought by the committee today
and his answers gave me a good look at his philosophy and his person. I view
him as having a genuine concern for public access and he left me with no
doubt that he thinks it ought to be free. However, he does see a possibility
or a need on certain State parcels of land of fees being charged for public
use. He likened it to fees charged at a State Park. Volinek made it clear
that we don't mind paying at the entrance to the park but we DO NOT want to
pay a toll before we get there. Morrison and the committee were in agreement
on this point. I do not see anything sinister or deceitful about Tom
Morrison. I saw every reason to believe he is a straight shooter, up front
and honest.

I had another fruitful discussion with Rep. Perkins. He is a strong landowner
rights person but he also believes that if a landowner gets any sort of a tax
break from the people, then he ought to provide the public with something in
return like free access.

On another note, I attended the whitewater rafting report on the impact on
commercial rafters by the noncommercial rafters. This report was presented by
Warden Michele Belanger to the IF & W committee. A few of the commercial
rafters were complaining that the Moxie Gore Paddling Club should be required
to do everything they have to do. Bob Schott, the president of the club
informed the committee of the limited numbers of people who raft the river
(450 total in a season) and that they are already complying with everything
that was asked of them on a voluntary basis. Many of the committee members
assure Mr. Schott that the noncommercial would have first preference on the
rivers over the commercial interests because the water belongs to the people.
Suffice it to say, Mr. Schott and his friend left the committee room elated.

Commissioner Perry and his financial manager provide the committee with
budget information that I didn't take note of. Rep Carr advised the committee
that some towns (Lincoln being one) don't want to buy computers and deal with
IF&W license purchases through the new MOSES program. IF & W said they were
flexible and agreed to work something out with any town that does not want to
participate.

I never did make it to the Advisory Council meeting.

OK, I guess that finishes my report. I can't possibly tell you every detail
for I'd be typing all night. I've written it quickly so it may have typos -
please forgive as I'm tired. So until we chat again, have a pleasant day. Bill