Most islanders have probably never heard of the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) that operates primarily as a state-level planning board for 10 million acres of unorganized forested townships in northern Maine. But residents of islands such as Monhegan, Matinicus, Criehaven and Eagle, where LURC also acts as their island planning board, know LURC well; sometimes, they might say, all too well.
The two largest island communities in LURC’s jurisdiction, Matinicus and Monhegan, are both far offshore and are “plantations,” having once been towns in the formal governmental sense of the word. Both islands gave up varying degrees of local control as they lost population in the first half of the 20th century, and consequently land use decisions and tax rates are now set by LURC and the State of Maine.
LURC is also the agency where Criehaven lobstermen who fish for seven to nine months a year go to get a permit to rebuild their wharves or expand their residences. LURC is where the Quinn family of Eagle Island who continue year-round island life there, as their family has for nearly 200 years, must go to get a permit to remove timber from former pasture lands – in the shoreland protection district. Other islands in LURC’s jurisdiction include the summer community of Loud’s Island in Muscongus Bay and family “summer islands” such as Great Spruce Head, Butter, Bear and Lasell as well as a host of islands with important wildlife habitat, such as Seal, Wooden Ball, Metinic and Matinicus Rock. In all, LURC determines what are and are not appropriate uses of 308 coastal islands that are not part of organized townships, and thus is a very significant force in Maine island life.
Many years ago, in an effort to bridge the communication gap between LURC and its island constituents, the Island Institute suggested LURC appoint an islander as one of its Commissioners. Mary Beth Dolan, who had been the island schoolteacher and assessor on Monhegan (and a trustee of the Island Institute) was nominated and served for eight years. With Dolan’s leadership and the support from Island Institute staff, LURC added a “Maritime Use Zone” to regulate waterfront access for fishermen and to discourage competing uses, a significant step forward for protecting the working waterfronts of Monhegan, Matinicus and Criehaven.
When Dolan “retired” as a Commissioner last year, the Institute tried to find a replacement who could represent island concerns and perspectives. This is, of course, easier said than done. Which island, and which perspective, you might ask, would an islander represent? Islanders tend to have complicated and mixed views of any “off-island” authority. Suspicion and skepticism arise whenever someone else’s rules intrude, often followed by understandable resentment and frustration in the case of LURC over the long distances one must travel – to Augusta (at best) or places like Rangeley or Presque Isle or Fort Kent when the Commission meets there – to present one’s case.
On the whole Monhegan’s relationship with LURC seems to have worked well, since many Monhegan residents would rather not have to decide potentially divisive land use issues that could pit neighbor against neighbor. Matinicus and Criehaven, on the other hand, have tended to prefer the “less is more” philosophy in their dealings with LURC, or the “it is better to ask forgiveness than permission” school of thought that has led occasionally to adversarial relations.
So when the LURC Board of Commissioners and staff met recently in Rockland – they move their meetings around the state to try to be more accessible for the residents of remote unorganized territories – the Island Institute was invited to provide an overview of island resource management issues. The Commissioners also arranged for a field visit to Matinicus prior to the meeting. One of the Commissioners, Ed Laverty, recounted a classic Matinicus Island experience. The field trip had been carefully planned by LURC staff with various Matinicus officials, but within moments after their arrival on the Matinicus wharf, not a single islander was to be seen or found. It was like entering a ghost town.
The fundamental issue between islanders and LURC is easier to describe than to solve. The vast majority of permit decisions LURC makes each year affect properties in the north Maine woods. There the state has the difficult job (and after 30 years, perhaps the experience) of balancing the public’s interest in wilderness and public access with the interests of private and commercial landowners. Island issues. LURC argues, are really no different than northern forest issues. The north Maine woods, like the islands, has its share of remote communities. Balancing the needs of working forests is analogous to balancing the interests of working waterfronts. Protecting nesting eagles in Mattawamkeag is like protecting them on Marshall Island. Shoreland protection is shoreland protection, and so forth.
But this view misses important realities. Island community history dates back much further than the relatively recent history of north Maine woods communities. LURC is an established presence in the woods, but an occasional visitor on islands. Island culture is fundamentally different from forest culture. Islanders have evolved different strategies for dealing with conflict that often differ from one island to the next, depending on their history. Islanders’ ways of making a living are almost entirely different from those in remote areas of northern Maine. Fishing for trout is not like fishing for cod or lobsters. Thus one set of land use rules does not fit all.
Soon LURC will begin updating its Comprehensive Plan, including its plan for 305 islands and two-plus year round island communities (considering Criehaven as an almost year-round island community). LURC’s 10-year plan was completed in 1997. Islanders have a decision to make and that is whether to participate actively in this planning exercise. The Island Institute will organize a forum this winter to present this option to any and all islanders who might be interested. Let us know if you’d like to attend.
Philip W. Conkling is president of the Island Institute.