PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) — It’s graduation season, and 37 medical school grads received their degrees Saturday at USM.

The students graduated from the MaineHealth Maine Track program, which is a part of Tufts Univeristy in Boston.

Program leaders say students specifically trained in community-based medical practices across Maine.

Eleven of the graduates will begin their residencies at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland.

David Heidrich lives in Augusta.

From the cliffs of Acadia to the woods and waters of Katahdin’s national monument, Maine’s public lands are more than scenic, they are the backbone of our economy and way of life. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in these or other public places knows that they offer more than just natural beauty. They are central to our identity, drawing visitors from around the world, supporting small businesses and sustaining jobs in communities across the state.

As someone deeply invested in the success of Maine’s outdoor recreation and tourism industries, I know that investing in our public lands will support thriving communities for generations to come. But maintaining these places requires more than appreciation, it requires sustained investment and action.

In 2020, Congress recognized that many of our country’s national parks and other public lands were suffering from decades of deferred maintenance. Roads, bridges, water systems, historic structures and visitor facilities were aging faster than they could be repaired. In response, lawmakers passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which created the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF). 

This landmark legislation provided five years of dedicated funding to address long-overdue repairs on federal lands. Here in Maine, the LRF delivered $54 million for critical repairs to our public lands. These investments supported projects at places like Acadia National Park — improving trails, restoring historic carriage roads and upgrading essential infrastructure — as well as work on national forests and wildlife refuges across the state. These projects have served to protect natural resources, improve safety and enhance visitor experiences while supporting local economies.

Now, with that funding having expired, Congress is considering the America the Beautiful Act, introduced by Sen. Steve Daines of Montana and Maine’s own Sen. Angus King. The bill has received strong bipartisan support, and I want to thank Sen. King and Sen. Collins for their leadership in advocating for this important legislation.

The America the Beautiful Act rises above politics and reflects a shared commitment to conservation and safeguarding the places that help define both Maine and our nation. By continuing to invest in our public lands, we ensure they sustain local economies while preserving natural resources for residents, visitors and future generations alike.

Outdoor recreation is a cornerstone of Maine’s economy. Each year, millions of visitors come to experience our parks, trails, waterways and working forests — supporting roughly 32,000 jobs and generating $3.9 billion in economic activity. That is approximately 5% of Maine’s workforce and 4% of its GDP, respectively. Communities throughout Maine depend on these visitors, and the continued health of our public lands is essential to their continued success.

While important progress has been made, maintenance backlogs on our federal lands persist and require reliable, long-term funding. Congress should pass the America the Beautiful Act because it would provide $2 billion per year for eight additional years to address ongoing maintenance needs across national parks and public lands — without raising taxes.

This is accomplished by: 1) dedicating lease and royalty payments from energy producers operating on federal lands and waters to conservation, 2) requiring federal agencies to identify and dispose of unneeded assets, and 3) leveraging private funding by introducing a preference for projects with a 15% financial match from private stakeholders or nonprofit organizations.

By passing this legislation, Congress can ensure that Maine’s treasured public lands remain safe, accessible and vibrant. If we want future generations to experience Maine as we know it today, we need to invest in it now.

Chris Payne of Cumberland is a graduate student at the University of New England.

Commercial fishing in Maine is breaking the people who sustain it.

Four out of five fishermen report overuse injuries — torn shoulders, damaged knees, chronic back pain — from work that hasn’t fundamentally changed in generations. Most don’t retire from the job. Their bodies give out first.

We know how to reduce that damage. What’s missing is consistent federal support. This isn’t an abstract policy debate — it’s being decided right now in the federal budget process.

Maine already has organizations doing the work. Groups like the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and Fishing Partnership Support Services provide injury prevention training, early access to physical therapy and practical equipment changes that reduce strain before injuries become permanent. They also address mental health and addiction — a critical need in a profession where chronic pain often leads to self-medication.

These programs are not theoretical. They are working. But they operate in a funding gap that federal policy has long promised to close and repeatedly failed to.

The urgency is growing. The administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget would eliminate Maine Sea Grant and cut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by roughly one-third. That comes just months after the administration abruptly terminated Maine’s Sea Grant program in January 2025 — later partially reversed after intense pushback — following a political dispute that had nothing to do with fisheries, safety or workforce development.

Programs like Sea Grant do more than fund research. They support the training, safety systems and local partnerships that keep fishermen on the water longer and in better health. In 2023, Maine Sea Grant generated roughly $15 in economic activity for every federal dollar invested. Eliminating it is not cost savings. It is economic contraction.

Congress already has tools to address this. The FISH Wellness Act would expand existing fishing safety grants, add behavioral health support and remove cost-match requirements that currently exclude many small operators. These are practical, bipartisan solutions built on programs that already exist.

What they lack is stable funding and sustained attention.

That instability has real consequences. Without consistent investment in training and safety, fishermen enter one of the most physically demanding jobs in America without the support systems common in other industries. Injuries accumulate. Careers shorten. Knowledge leaves the water faster than it can be replaced.

This is not a niche issue. Commercial fishing is a cornerstone of Maine’s coastal economy and identity. The people doing that work are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the same basic infrastructure other industries expect as standard: training, health support and a viable path into the profession that does not depend on physical sacrifice.

Maine’s congressional delegation has shown it can fight when funding is threatened. It helped restore Sea Grant once. But reacting after the fact is not enough.

In the months ahead, Congress will decide whether programs like Sea Grant survive and whether legislation like the FISH Wellness Act moves forward. Those decisions will determine whether fishermen get the training, health support and safety infrastructure that other industries expect as standard — or continue working until their bodies give out.

That makes this a test of priorities. Will Maine’s delegation push for sustained funding for fishing safety and workforce development before more cuts take hold? And will candidates seeking to represent Maine commit to making that funding permanent, not discretionary?

Fishing communities cannot rebuild their workforce or protect their health one budget fight at a time. If Maine wants a future on the water, Congress needs to fund it — deliberately and as policy.