News Release | Environment Maine

Committee Drops Worst LURC Rollbacks After Public Outcry

The Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry gave final approval this afternoon to a bill to overhaul the Land Use Regulation Commission, LD 1798. The Committee passed the bill by a unanimous vote after major changes were made to the bill, including stripping out the provision that allowed counties to drop out of LURC’s protections.

News Release | Environment Maine

Committee Votes to Rubber Stamp Bill that Threatens Maine's North Woods After Governor Twists Arms

At a work session in Augusta, the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry voted to approve LD 1798, the LePage administration bill that would roll back 40 years of protections for the North Woods. Gov. Paul LePage met with Republican committee members earlier today to insist that they fall in line.

News Release | Environment Maine

Citizens and Experts to Testify Against LD 1798 in Effort to Protect North Woods and Keep LURC Strong

Today at the Maine State House in Augusta, concerned citizens, experts, and legislators will testify in support of strong protections for Maine’s North Woods at a public hearing in front of the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The citizens will testify on LD 1798, which would roll back 40 years of protections for the North Woods by diminishing the scope and power of the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC).

News Release | Environment Maine

Environment Maine Rallies Citizens to Deliver 17,000 Messages on the North Woods

Citizens concerned with the fate of Maine’s natural heritage gathered in Augusta today to urge their legislators to protect Maine’s North Woods and vote against legislation that would undermine Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC). Environment Maine, a statewide environmental advocacy organization, collected the 17,000 messages from every state legislative district and hosted the event at the State House for citizens to deliver the messages to their legislators in the Maine House of Representatives.

News Release | Environment Maine

Coalition Concerned LURC Reform Proposal Headed Off-Track

Members of a broad coalition of conservation and planning groups are raising concerns about reforms proposed for the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) and how those reforms are being addressed in the Legislature. Maine's legendary North Woods - the anchor of our forest products and tourism economies and our natural outdoors heritage - stands to pay a high price.

News Release | Environment Maine

LURC Task Force Recommendations Threaten North Woods' Future

Department of Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley presented the findings of the LURC Reform Commission to the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry. The task force’s report recommends that the Legislature alter and significantly weaken LURC, rolling back 40 years of protections for the North Woods.

News Release | Environment Maine

Coalition Concerned About Impact of LURC Proposal on Maine's North Woods

Planners, conservationists, and citizens throughout Maine are concerned about the impact of proposed changes to Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) on Maine's North Woods and are urging the Legislature to examine the proposal carefully and think long and hard about the importance of Maine's signature natural resource.