"The Talk of Maine" piece on two referendum questions. The first, backed by for

Jeff Clark

Source

Down East

Date

11-1-1996

Pages

9-12

Abstract

"The Talk of Maine" piece on two referendum questions. The first, backed by former Green Party gubernatorial candidate, Jonathan Carter, would ban clearcutting in Maine's industrial forest and impose stringent timber harvesting standards. Question 2, dubbed the Maine Forest Compact, is a compromise forged by a coalition of mainstream environmental groups and the state's major landowners, and also offers a "none of the above" option. In 1989, the Legislature passed the Forest Practices Act limiting clearcuts to 250 acres. Although hundreds of thousands of additional acres have been clearcut, the Legislature has rebuffed any attempt to strengthen the statutes or to address clearcutting's effect on the health of the North Woods. Carter's referendum was a wake-up call for the forest industry, with one early poll indicating that 71 percent of Mainers favored banning clearcuts. Although Carter's ban was called ill-conceived, it was the impetus for putting the more moderate measure on the ballot.

Subjects

Clear-cutting, Forest management, Maine Forest Products Council, Referendums (State), Carter, Jonathan

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