The Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program plays an important function in keeping Maine a desirable place to live. It ensures future access to working waterfront, mud flats, and to farmland for our natural resource based industries. And because it is written into law, conservation preserves created with LMF support ensure we have public access to Maine’s outdoors whether you fish, hike, camp, raft, bike, hunt, snowmobile, picnic, kayak or canoe, or enjoy other traditional Maine pursuits.

LMF projects statewide have garnered support from snowmobile clubs, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, conservation groups, fishing and farming groups and local community groups.

For every dollar LMF spends, three additional dollars of federal and private funds are brought in for land conservation; but without LMF, there will be little state funding available to leverage this money or to protect threatened resources. As Hamilton Meserve correctly pointed out in his May 7 column, the Boothbay Region Land Trust’s (BRLT) many popular preserves on the Boothbay peninsula provide a significant boost in tourism and economic development. The BRLT’s Penny Lake and Lobster Cove Meadow preserves were accomplished with the aid of LMF funding.

Others in Lincoln County include Crooked Farm, Dodge Point, Clary Lake’s public access, the River-Link corridor (trail and wildlife corridor that will stretch from Whitefield to Boothbay Harbor, incorporating conserved properties in Newcastle, Edgecomb, and Boothbay), and Hiatt Farm and Choice View Farm.

Statewide there are more than 30 pending working waterfront, working farm, or other conservation projects in 15 counties that are in jeopardy without the Governor’s release of $11.5 million in voter-approved bonds. That includes several locally such as Muscongus Shellfish in Bremen, Crow Island in South Bristol, and Gardiner Pond in Wiscasset. All are at risk because of a promise not kept by Gov. Paul LePage — by his again holding hostage the Land for Maine’s Future bonds — this time in exchange for increased timber harvesting on state-owned lands.

Timber harvesting and LMF bonds are not related. The only link now is in the mind of Governor LePage. He’s back to one of his Machiavellian tactics of political hostage taking.

For nearly three decades, the Land for Maine’s Future program has been held in high esteem by Republicans and Democrats alike. Never before has any governor played politics with such a widely loved program.

If you personally enjoy one of the local LMF conservation areas, or you value the economic boost they bring to the region, or if you are one of the 419,000 voters who supported the usage of these LMF bond monies — then you care whether LMF funding is collateral damage in the governor’s political bullying.

How do we stand up to this tactic? Recently a group of bipartisan lawmakers put forth a new bill that would curtail a governor’s ability to withhold voter-approved bonds. The bill’s sponsor — my colleague Republican State Sen. Roger Katz said, quote, “When the people of Maine have spoken at the ballot box, no one person — even a governor — should be able to veto that decision. Politics is rough enough out here these days, but we should not add to the meanness by holding innocent bystanders hostage.”

I stand with him on this, because Sen. Katz is right.

Part of our job in representing Maine people is to stand up to those who would abuse their authority, to hold others accountable for dealing in good faith and honoring their word. It’s a matter of honesty and integrity. A deal is a deal. Gov. LePage needs to follow through on promises made — and the will of Maine’s voters. That is his job.