Maine’s puffins have benefitted from conservation efforts, from which a successful “puffin economy” has emerged.

Historically, island Lighthouse Keepers chased gulls away from their roofs as they needed clean water for their cisterns. This happened to protect seabird colonies from predators. Later, human pressures reduced seabird colonies, eliminating puffins entirely.

In the 1970s, conservationists restored nesting puffins to those islands where people could chase away predators. 

A partnership of the National Audubon Society, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge (MCINWR) began to manage Maine’s islands for wildlife. Academic partners provided island interns who lived there 24/7, from May to August. It is now a renowned success, unique to Maine.

Tourists also embraced the puffins’ return, and by 2005, the “puffin economy” (small businesses) was worth $2 million peryear. Today it is estimated to be $5 million per year – a positive unintended consequence from puffin conservation efforts. 

While puffin tourism has steadily increased, the National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System has suffered steep declines in federal funding. 

Mark Lender at the CT Examiner notes (Read National Wildlife Refuge System Nears Collapse) that the NWR has 2,300 staff and needs $2.2 billion in 2025 for operational requirements.

By comparison, the National Park Service  has 30,000 staff and requested $3.57 billion for 2025.

The NWR manages 10 million more land acres, and 757 million more marine acres than NPS.

Through the Great American Outdoors Act, NPS will receive $15 an acre, while the Refuge System gets only $0.11 an acre. The inflation-corrected NWR operational budget for 2025 represents a reduction of 25% from 2023.

Last summer, the Friends of Maine Coast Islands National Wildlife Refuge  provided 11% of island interns’ actual costs, because we cannot imagine a Maine coast without puffins. 

Be positively consequential: support our wildlife and your Refuge.

Barbara S. Mogel is chair of the Friends of Maine Coast Islands National Wildlife Refuge

We (our community/our state) need Joseph McLaughlin as our representative for the towns of Appleton, Islesboro, Liberty, Lincolnville, Montville, Morrill and Searsmont.  

Joe comes from a long line of hardworking people, going way back to the first one I knew, his Great Grandfather Barney McLaughlin — generations involved in the restaurant and lobstering industries.  

As a family man and father, he has concerns with the educational system and the economy.  Joe will do what is right for Maine.  I strongly urge you to vote for Joseph McLaughlin as our District 40 Maine House Representative.

Barbara Forrest lives in Lincolnville

The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.

Do you favor a $10 million bond issue to restore historic buildings owned by governmental and nonprofit organizations, with funds being issued contingent on a 25 percent local match requirement from either private or nonprofit sources?

Treasured pieces of Maine’s history are on the ballot this election. And no, we’re not referring to the debate around replacing Maine’s flag.

Question 3 would approve a $10 million bond to help restore historic government and nonprofit buildings across the state. The question requires a 25 percent local match from either private or nonprofit sources.

These are structures and sites like old meeting houses, town halls, public libraries, museums, grange buildings, old forts, homesteads, and other sites that might otherwise fade into memory without restoration efforts.

The government entities or nonprofits responsible for these buildings might not have the resources available to prioritize this needed work. Some funding through the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and other organizations is meant to aid these valuable projects, which help ensure that Maine’s history remains an active part of our future. Though survey results from the people doing this work indicate that consistent state funding that matches the statewide need has been elusive.

Passing Question 3 would help address this, even a one-time infusion of $10 million represents just part of the statewide need. A previous bond of this type was passed back in 1985, when voters approved $2 million.

This newest iteration was proposed by two Republican state lawmakers, Rep. Sawin Millett and Sen. Rick Bennett. Its original amount of $25 million was paired back when the bond question was reviewed and approved by the Legislature.

Though the amount matches neither the original proposal nor the existing preservation needs across the state, it remains a sensible down payment to protect parts of Maine’s history. The Maine Historic Preservation will oversee the award of funding to various projects with this funding, as it has before, in a process that can safeguard Maine’s past while also supporting current community cohesion and economic activity.

“Studies show that investment in historic preservation supports small business and good paying jobs, improves property values, keeps money circulating in local economies, and catalyzes additional investment,” said Tara Kelly, executive director of the nonprofit Maine Preservation, and Sarah Hansen, the executive director of Greater Portland Landmarks, in testimony before the Legislature last year. “The rehabilitation of historic buildings can be labor intensive, creating high-paying jobs. In a soon-to-be-finalized economic impact analysis of historic preservation in Portland, it is estimated that these projects create 218 direct jobs and an additional 217 indirect and induced jobs every year.”

While we would prefer to see increased and consistent support for these preservation efforts built into the state budget rather than be subject to bonding — and the interest that comes with it — the unfortunate fact remains that such a consistent funding source has yet to materialize. In its absence, this bond is a prudent if insufficient public investment. The longer some of these projects wait for support, the more likely that these structures and sites degrade beyond repair.

Julia Gray, the executive director of the Wilson Museum in Castine, offered strong rationale for supporting this bond question in legislative testimony last year.

“Maine’s historic buildings are an irreplaceable part of our civic infrastructure,” Gray said. “They are often part of a community’s identity, a highly visible symbol of local history, places of memory that span generations.”

We agree, and we hope Maine voters will too. Question 3 deserves a yes vote.