Harvesting her wood might have saved a woman’s roof

When Jessica Leahy of Maine Woodland Owners and I spoke a few weeks ago about several Maine forestland topics — I couldn’t fit everything she said into my column.

This week I’m sharing the rest of my conversation with Jessica. I told her that 28 years ago, I was informed that Maine had more forestland than any other state: Ninety-five percent of Maine was covered with forests. And 95 percent of Maine’s forestland was private property — with a wonderful, unique tradition of landowners giving access to outdoor recreationists, who had a legacy of respecting the generosity of Maine’s private landowners.

Maine’s 95/95 tradition seemed to me, right from the start, a positive forestry model other states could follow.

Jessica, in my earlier column, spoke in some detail about, in her view, the necessary mix of woodlot owners, large corporate landowners, government-owned land, and tribal lands, that “make Maine, Maine.”

She believes a key part of Maine’s positive forestry is a Tree Growth Tax law that’s working well, and should be left alone.

“There are Bill Titles coming up in the [128th] Legislature related to Tree Growth,” Jessica told me, which could mean changes to the law.

I remember proposed changes to Maine’s Tree Growth Tax law causing fits for landowners enrolled in the program. They seemed as upset at Augusta’s inability to stick to one agreement, as they were with specific law changes. Is it any wonder?

“About 15 percent of Maine’s small woodland owners are in [the program],” that requires “a written forest management plan, and timber production has to be your primary objective,” said Jessica.

“Think about the poor landowners,” she said. If landowners break the agreement, Maine government punishes them. “But, then the Legislature tries to change [the terms] every year while [the landowners are] in it,” said Jessica.

That’s one reason landowners unsure of their future plans don’t enter into Tree Growth.

“I think there’s a perception people are rich landowners. Eighty-thousand households in Maine own small woodlands, and they’re not all rich,” Jessica said, telling me of a study of “low-income landowners” she worked on through the University of Maine. “People who are cash poor, land rich. We wanted to look at the stewardship ethic of these landowners. We kind of assumed people would have inherited their land, then struggled to hold on to it,” she said.

“We found the opposite. Many people had actively sought out their land. It was their biggest asset,” Jessica continued. “These people had saved, and really done their best to try to get a piece of property. Either stand alone, or maybe their house or trailer was on it. And it was their prized possession. They had really strong stewardship ethics, and they were really reluctant to [timber] harvest.”

Jessica said a student survey taker in this UM study interviewed a woman living in a home with the roof caving in. The woman did not “want to enter Tree Growth to reduce her taxes,” Jessica said, because her harvesting plans were unsure, and she “didn’t want to deal with the government.

“She could have harvested her trees. But she wanted to take care of her land. In her mind,” said Jessica, that meant no timber harvesting. “So she let her roof fall in.”

Good stewardship means “you can actually make your forest healthier and generate some income from it. I wish her roof wasn’t falling in,” she said.

Rural Maine’s a tough place to make a living, I said.

“Yeah,” said Jessica, “but also a great place, if you can.”

Scott K. Fish has served as a communications staffer for Maine Senate and House Republican caucuses, and was communications director for Senate President Kevin Raye. He founded and edited AsMaineGoes.com and served as director of communications/public relations for Maine’s Department of Corrections until 2015. He is now using his communications skills to serve clients in the private sector.