America’s Great Outdoors Listening Session, Sep 2 In April 2010, President Obama signed a memorandum establishing the America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative to develop a conservation agenda worthy of the 21st century and to reconnect Americans with our great outdoors. The President directed the leaders of the AGO Initiative to travel across the country to listen to people directly involved in finding grassroots solutions to conserving our lands and waters and reconnecting Americans to the outdoors. The AGO road show is coming to Maine on Sept. 2 at the Bangor Civic Center. Don’t miss this chance to speak for public lands. WHAT'S HAPPENING WHAT: Citizens now have an opportunity to tell representatives of the Obama Administration about ideas for conserving our lands and waters and reconnecting Americans to the outdoors at a listening session in Maine. WHO: Senior representatives from U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be at the listening session. WHEN & WHERE: Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., Bangor Civic Center, 100 Dutton Street, Bangor, Maine. SPECIAL NEEDS: This event is open to everyone. If you need any special accommodations, contact Elaine Tremble (elaine.tremble@me.usda.gov). WHAT YOU CAN DO 1. Speak at the AGO listening session on September 2 in Bangor about the need for more public conservation lands in Maine and benefits of the proposed Maine Woods National Park & Preserve. 2. Join the dialog on conservation of America’s lands on the AGO website (www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors). Comments about the proposed Maine Woods National Park & Preserve will be especially relevant on the web page about the Federal Government Role. 3. Write a letter to the editor. Letters in the news media reach readers and many government officials who watch news outlets. You can also post it on the AGO website. KEY POINTS • In addition to supporting grassroots conservation and recreation efforts, creating national parks is one of the most important actions the federal government it can do to reconnect Americans to the outdoors. • Two-thirds of the world's original forests are gone. More than 95% of the original forest in the U.S. are gone. Less than 3% of the land in Maine is permanently preserved for its natural character. We need more protected wildlands in Maine. • Only 6.3% of the land in Maine is in public (federal, state, municipal) ownership, one of the lowest proportions in the United States. Only 0.86% of Maine land is national and only 0.09% is in federally protected Wilderness Areas. • More than $250 million have been spent on land conservation in Maine since the late 1990s. However, most of that was to pay private landowners for "working forest" easements. These easements support logging, but they do not provide wilderness recreation, preserve biodiversity, or attract meaningful economic activity beyond industrial logging. • The Maine Woods is of national and global significance, but it is under huge stress. In addition to development, new uses – such as industrial biomass, biofuels, and wind power development labeled as "green" energy – are putting enormous pressures on Maine's forests. • There is an urgent need and opportunity for large-scale conservation in the Maine Woods, but this will happen only if our national government takes a leadership role. • The proposed Maine Woods National Park & Preserve is the only conservation initiative in Maine that would... . create world-class recreation opportunities for the 30+ million people within a day’s drive . permanently prevent misplaced development and assure public access to more than 3 million contiguous acres . safeguard the headwaters of five rivers of national significance (Penobscot, Kennebec, St. John, Allagash, Aroostook) . protect wildlife habitat on a landscape scale and remote trout ponds of national significance . balance no-hunting and non-motorized areas with hunting and snowmobiling areas . generate thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in economic activity
Posted on Saturday, August 28, 2010 (Archive on Monday, September 27, 2010) Posted by Jym St. Pierre   Contributed by
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