Late last December before we all got lost in year-end events, Governor John Baldacci delivered the keynote address for the conference, “Protecting Maine’s Working Waterfronts.” The Governor deserves credit for showing up on an icy day and delivering the straightforward message that he did not arrive with any solutions to this “complex local problem.” But he harkened back to his administration’s recent agreement to try to save Maine’s remaining dairy farms based on a 17-point list of recommendations, developed by a diverse group, that he is now implementing. He challenged the 85 conference attendees from fishing, boatbuilding, aquaculture, real estate, local and state political backgrounds to do the same.
One of the speakers presented an elegant description of the question of what, precisely, is meant by the term “working waterfront.” Terry Sortwell, a realtor from Land Vest’s Camden office, said he would define a working waterfront as any part of Maine’s shoreline that is zoned exclusively for marine use. And the simplest way to protect such areas is to prohibit residential uses in those zones. Sortwell went on to point out, however, that probably fewer than half of Maine’s coastal towns have such zones and that very few of them prohibit residential uses – because their owners object since such ordinances reduce their resale value.
In other words, we want our cake and then to eat it, too. Or, we have met the enemy and he is us. Of course, it is asking the impossible for most of us: to forgo real value in our ‘real’ estate when we have children to think of, or retirement, or God forbid, health care costs to face. Who can sacrifice these interests for the good of the community? Since we are talking about the good of the community – or the 145 coastal communities that comprise the Maine coast – there may be an under-utilized resource that could be mobilized to help protect working waterfronts at the local level.
Local land trusts have boomed during the last decade and have had amazing success in protecting thousands of acres and hundreds of miles of unspoiled coastline. Their missions focus mostly on protecting “natural” resources and undeveloped landscapes. But some local land trusts have expanded their purview to interests in protecting “cultural resources.” If there were a way to mobilize local land trusts in helping to save Maine’s working waterfronts, as citizens in York Harbor have recently done, a new set of players – and resources – could be harnessed.
This is easy to say and difficult to do. To begin with, fishermen and aquaculturists don’t view environmentalists as natural allies. Also lots of environmentalists tend to think that people spoil nature; relatively few of them believe that people can enhance the landscape. But the Maine coast has a way of working its magic on us all. Who would want a pristine coastline without gaudily painted lobster boats, hauling their day-glo-colored buoys from the gunkholes and guzzles of this sinuous coastline? Not many of us, whether we are environmental hardliners or not. And therein may lie a collaboration that could enhance the common good.
Philip W. Conkling is president of the Island Institute.