This year the Environmental Priorities Coalition's seven priority bills represent the best collective opportunities to restore the sovereignty of Maine's Wabanaki Nations, advance clean energy in Maine, secure the future of Maine's forests, protect endangered and threatened species, strengthen environmental justice for all Maine people, and establish environmental rights for all, for generations.
The Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 established a different, more restrictive status for the Wabanaki Nations in Maine than that of all 570 other federally-recognized tribes in the United States. A bipartisan task force recommended changes to restore the Nations’ inherent rights, including rights to regulate hunting, fishing, natural resources, and land use on tribal lands, as allowed by federal law.
Factsheets: Recognize Tribal Sovereignty
In Maine and across the world, climate change and environmental concerns pose the greatest threats to communities that are already marginalized, overburdened, or underserved. Adopting environmental justice definitions and practices that reflect Maine’s unique situations and communities will ensure that we equitably pursue and achieve our environmental and climate mandates, and that impacted communities are able to fairly participate in the process.
Factsheets: Advance Environmental Justice for All Maine People
Climate change is already impacting Maine, and Maine's ongoing dependence on fossil fuels is driving up energy prices for families and businesses. Responsibly developed offshore wind will deliver clean energy, benefit communities, and launch an innovative new industry. If we act now, Maine can set high environmental, equity, and labor standards for responsible development of this emerging industry.
Factsheets: Foster a Responsible Offshore Wind Industry for Maine
Currently, the majority of proposed development reviewed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) does not consider potential impacts to Maine’s most vulnerable species. This bill will modify the Natural Resource Protection Act (NRPA) to ensure endangered and threatened species habitat is treated as a “Significant Wildlife Habitat” during the permit review process.
Factsheets: Conserve Endangered Threatened Species Habitat
Because they are big and largely unfragmented, Maine’s forests have an outsized role to play in mitigating and adapting to climate change and in ensuring continued biodiversity. A Forest Advisory Board would bring together a variety of viewpoints to share information, facilitate public input, look at the forest comprehensively, and advise the Maine Forest Service on policies to keep our forests healthy, intact, and productive.
Factsheets: Create a Forest Advisory Board
In every corner of the state, Maine trails are a critical resource for connecting residents and visitors with the natural world, and an essential component of Maine’s $3 billion outdoor recreation economy. A $30 million Maine Trails Bond would provide grants to nonprofits, municipalities, and other divisions of government statewide to support non-motorized, motorized, and multi-use trails.
Factsheets: Invest in Maine Trails Statewide 2
Currently, there is no foundational principle to guide state policymakers in their deliberations to protect the basic essentials for life — clean air, clean water, and healthy ecosystems — for today and future generations. The Pine Tree Amendment requires government at all levels to protect rights to a clean and healthy environment, providing legal standing to those who believe their environmental rights have been violated.
Factsheets: The Pine Tree Amendment