Yes, it's pouring down cats and dogs out there. No matter. That's why you own all that expensive Gore-Tex rainwear and fleece.

So button up and take a hike on over to your local polling place and cast your vote. Exercise your body and then exercise your citizen conscience. A healthy combo.

I did just that earlier. Wouldn't have missed it for the world.

My ballot on this elect-shun day included more write-in votes than normal. One for Mickey Mouse, another for Superman, one for Dumbo.

Given the increasingly embarrassing state of affairs in this urban political circus under which I am governed (otherwise known as Portland) I figured that my cartoon character choices might do just as well in office as real people in this era of non-decisions and bad decisions.

That said, I hear tell that this storm might well bring some real snow up in the mountains. Skiing can't be very far off. Now that's something to get cheery about!

Toodles.

The current proposal to raise Maine's lodging tax from 7% to 10% would be laughable, if it weren't so sad.

Yes, supporters say, it's all in the interest of helping to "preserve the state's scenic lands, downtowns, farms, forests and waterfronts, and improve access to hunting, fishing and boating areas."

Laudable goals, certainly, but more taxes aren't the way to go about achieving them.

This measure is another in a long series of misguided ideas meant to sock it to the rich, stick it to the business community, soak the tourists "from away," and anybody else with a pulse who can be taxed.

Brilliant! And oh so lacking in creativity.

I wonder if the proponents of this latest tax hike--cutely touted as part of "comprehensive tax reform"--have taken the time to even read their own words to see how little sense they make when strung together.

The tax is "part of a strategy to make Maine more attractive to tourists" and will "help the state to achieve long-term prosperity."

Oh really.

So raising taxes on tourist lodging--that'll mean everything from hotel and motel rooms to campgrounds and God knows whatever else--will help Maine achieve prosperity.

Who do you think you're fooling?

Are we dumb enough to think that visitors don't factor in the potential cost of their vacation when planning, and choose among the more affordable?

Hello! Of course they do.

Think people aren't sensitive to things that have bearing on their traveling, like say, gas prices that are hovering around $3 a gallon?

Think again. Money matters.

Same thing applies to the lodging tax. People get it, even tourists. But then, the legislature seems to have a perennial difficulty grasping that private citizens actually have to manage their budget, whereas Augusta doesn't.

So what do we want to do?

Raise prices through raising taxes on visitors, and by the way, the rest of us resident shmucks who live here and stay at motels and campgrounds. And then hope that nobody notices. Or cares.

And further, we expect that even more people will visit Maine because they want donate more of their hard earned money to Maine's tax coffers, because, well, just because.

Yeah, right.

Some "strategy" folks.

Marketing gurus you ain't. Give it up.

Maine's reputation for high taxes is widely known beyond the Piscataqua River bridge. Don't go making things worse for our tourism industry.

I'm all for preserving our natural beauty, our forests and farmlands; access to boating and hunting and fishing areas and the like.

But must tax hikes be part of the deal? Again and again?

Is spending reform a possibility? Reducing waste? Collecting the millions in tax dollars already owed to the state that have gone uncollected?

"Quality makes a difference," said Portland legislator Glenn Cummings. "We have the most spectacular place in the world."

Indeed we do.

Let's see some "quality" products come out of Augusta that don't include the word "tax." Unless, of course, you mean to lower them.

More unintended consequences from where else? Augusta!

I know that shocks you, too, but...

Get this: Feed wild turkeys and deer with cracked corn from the local feed store and you may be fined. Do it again and you'll pay big, according to a proposed law.

Rep. Scott Lansley, R-Sabattus, "submitted the bill on the behalf of a vegetable farmer in Greene whose crops suffered from deer that were attracted to the area by feed left for wild turkeys."

One legislator submits one bill to serve the complaint of one person. Nice going.

Uh, hello. That's not what you're there for! You're in Augusta to serve the greater public good, not individual special interests, even if it is a well-meaning vegetable farmer.

Another dumb piece of legislation on the books that can't be enforced. Even DIFW "questioned how easily such a law could be enforced."

How many hundreds more laws similar to this are concocted every session? More than you or I would really care to know about, I'll wager!

I was just last evening having a conversation with a friend where we both asked, "what if the Maine Legislature, never mind the U.S. Congress, took a couple of years off. No sessions, no meetings, no hearings, no new laws, no BS.

Would anybody notice? Would anybody care?

But I digress...

Back at the feedbag, complaints surrounding the bill are pouring in... "Farmers, gardeners and people who fear that their expensive shrubs will become meals for deer if their neighbors stop putting out feed."

The unintended consequeces of a poorly conceived idea.

People have been feeding deer and turkeys around their homes for a long time for the pure enjoyment of it, to make a simple connection with nature. Has the practice really been that harmful? So much so that we need another law?

Let this one go. Please.

Can't we all just get along, you and me and the deer and the antelope, er, turkey?

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Yep.

And here's the first of more to come:

A proposal to tax our out-of-state visitors who come to Maine to see our natural, historical and cultural attractions.

That's the ticket. Make 'em pay more to eat and drink and sleep. Soak 'em baby.

And oh, by the way, that tax increase will also apply to the rest of us who happen to live here. And through some silly glitch in the human anatomy, must also eat and drink. And pay for lodging on weekends away.

Next item:

The canoe and kayak tax.

Uh huh. It's already been proposed by formerly anti-tax New Hampshire (I saw the article in yesterday's PPH, but I can't find the link. If you find it please forward to me. Thanks!), so a revival of the idea shouldn't be far behind for our own Maine legislature.

Just think, by this time next year, your canoe and/or kayak (I guess you'd be be considered wealthy if you owned both) might well sport a shiny new registration (tax) sticker.

And your tired old wallet will be that much lighter. Hey, why burden yourself with all that extra cash anyway?!

Yippee! Tax Me.!

I want to believe that Mainers going to the polls the other day didn't have higher taxes in mind when they cast their ballots.

But that's very likely to be the result.

I mean, come on, there's a pretty clear track record that doesn't take a rocket scientist to properly analyse.

Did anyone bother to ask themselves why Maine's economy is perennially moribund? Why our state took an economic nosedive along with Louisiana last year, excepting the small fact that we didn't suffer a hurricane?

I don't get it.

But we sure did.

The likeable but ineffective fellow with the splotch of spaghetti sauce on his sleeve in the Blaine House gets to stay for another four years.

That's what a meager 38% decided anyway. Governor by default.

And the other fun and games people at the State House get to keep their keys to the tax-and-spend closet, as well as hand out a few more sets to their like-minded pals.

Oh, and that awful TABOR thing? Bah! Why mess up a good thing, right?

Big changes in Maine?

Not a chance.

Can you say "status quo"? I knew you could.

So what does this all have to do with us outdoorsfolks here at the Trailhead?

Nothing maybe. Or everything.

Besides the fact that it remains difficult for too, too many hard working people (uh, that would be you and me) to make a living in this state? And to keep hold of a smidgen of what they earn? So that they and their families might maybe enjoy some leisure time, quite possibly in the outdoors?

Nah, what does that trivial crap matter.

So bring it on, Augusta. And please make it hurt.

Here's a few ways to do it (new legislators please take note):

* Gimme higher fishing and hunting license fees (hint: "fees" is a code word for "taxes").
* Higher snowmobile and boat registration fees.
* Make me pay more for my guide licenses.
* Up the gas tax so it costs more to get to the mountains on the weekend.
* Hike the state park entrance and camping fees.
* Enact the canoe and kayak tax that you kicked around last year.
* Hell, put a tax on hiking boots like I asked.
* Increase the meals and lodging tax.
* Tax me on my taxes
* Take my wallet and beat me senseless

Blah, blah, blah, ad nausem...

Excuse me a minute, my doctor just called and has recommended a stiff increase in my medication. But I've politely declined. Instead I'm just going to go for a hike. The news can't reach me in the woods.

And you all? Well, enjoy your day!

I got outside early yesterday, into the fresh morning air, and hiked over to my polling place to do my civic duty.

But I see today's results and nowhere can I find where my candidates named "write-in" won any of the races.

{big, big sigh}

I'm glad it's over.

But then, is it really?

Think I'll start getting prepared...

I was on my way out the door late last week headed for Baxter State Park when the story broke about John Martin and his bulldozer clearing its way through a protected zone along the Allagash River.

Oh, to be a fly on the roof of the cab of Martin's dozer as he trundled along, flattening everything in his path.

What fun!

To be able to defy state law like that must be exhilarating!

To heck with the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. To heck with the River Driver's Agreement. To heck with Department of Conservation.

Protected wild and scenic rivers?

Bah!!

I'm John Martin, the almightiest State Senator (D-Eagle Lake), and I can do anything.

Such defiance of civilized law is only for the chosen few. And clearly Martin must a member of that lofty group.

You want riverfront access? You got it.

Just call John Martin's wrecking crew. They come complete with bulldozers and chainsaws. And work quick and cheap (and in the dark of night).

By the way John, you got any spare election ballots hanging around the house?

Do you love Acadia?

Of course you do! As do I. Who doesn’t?

The pink granite cliffs, the pounding ocean surf, the sand beaches and secluded coves. Mountains that rise tall from the sea, pocked with jack pines. The cool, dark black spruce forests and sparkling clear streams that run between them. The winding carriage roads, the narrow foot trails and the Park Loop Road that help us explore and see and touch and smell the natural beauty that is Acadia.

But did you know that in the last four years federal funding for parks has increased from $903 million to $1 billion annually?

Probably not.

And you probably never noticed any problem getting into the visitor center, or finding a roll of TP in the john, or finding a park ranger during your visit.

Nope.

Thought so.

But Acadia is in crisis, don't you know! Remember that annual $1 billion figure for parks? That funding level increase is less than the current annual 3% rate of inflation. So, some in our government call that a “cut” and cry foul.

Like our own seemingly math-challenged U.S. Congressman Tom Allen.

Allen continues to beat the steady drum about “tax cuts for wealthy” and “cost of war” and whatever other convenient but tired mantra as the reason for such an abominable “erosion of services” as is happening to Acadia.

Acadia gets a couple million $$$ a year more now than just a few of years ago, but it just can’t seem to get by, according to Allen’s line of thought.

Hmmm.

This is what I love about our government. There is never enough money for it to spend. It wants ever more. More of my tax dollars and yours. It never asks where you and I will get the money to pay for more fees and surcharges and revenue enhancements and other disguises for TAXES.

This current administration is no better. Fiscally conservative? Not a chance. It's spend, spend, spend.

Please tell me: What government agency, be it local, state or federal, couldn’t do with a flat line budget for awhile until we get our fiscal house in order?

You and I do it every day, every year. We make do with what we have. We have no choice.

So should the government. At all levels. Even our parks.

I’m weary of the-sky-is-falling alarmism. There simply isn’t enough money available to do all the things that we, the pampered, spoiled and lazy American people, now ask our government to do. There just isn’t.

Can’t we accept that? Shouldn't our leaders, regardless of party, be more responsible?

Our parks are wonderful, beautiful places. Acadia will survive on $6.5 mil a year. It's tough love, but I’m pretty confident.

But if the next time I visit I can’t find a ranger when I need to ask a question, I might consider figuring things out for myself. If the visitor center isn’t open late, I’ll pick up a brochure outside and show myself around. And if I can’t find an open outhouse, I’ll pee in the woods.

Beloved Acadia will still look the same. And I’ll enjoy it just as much.

Seawall in Acadia National Park.

Another attempt at yet another tax on outdoors users--to double the registration fee for ATV users--has been delayed for now.

Not good enough. It should fail to go any further.

Why must "Augusta" be synonymous with "tax"?

What makes them think (and I use that word cautiously) that us ordinary folks can pony up any given increase in fees (read: taxes) that they decide upon.

We don't have unlimited funds. We live on real budgets.

Why can't you folks in Augusta?

Now, I don't own or use an ATV (although I support their prudent use). I could very well say I don't give a rat's behind about a fee increase on ATVs.

But that wouldn't be right.

We've all been whacked enough with fee (tax) increases over the past few years. And that requires a line in the sand.

No ATV fee hikes, no more canoe and kayak taxes, no hiker tax.

You folks up there getting where I'm going?

Nod your heads up and down. Easy though. Don't want you hurting yourselves.

OK, back to my happy place now...

You may or may not have heard that there's a new leader of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the federal agency charged with managing our national parks and lands and much of the nation's natural resources.

Dirk Kempthorne was appointed by President Bush this week to succeed retiring Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton.

Kempthorne is currently Idaho Governor, and seems a decent enough fellow with a good record of environmental stewardship.

It's an important job that requires a considerable balancing of priorities. Not an easy task, for sure, but one that matters a lot for all of us who care deeply about our parks and lands.

Got my tax refund back from the State of Maine yesterday.

$5.

Big whoop.

Thanks Gov.

You might just as well have kept it and put it toward that big salary increase our beneficent legislature wants you to have.

But now that it's in my hands, guess I'll have to go help boost the economy and spend it.

L.L. Bean, Eastern Mountain Sports watch out! I've got an extra $5 and I'm headed your way...

While the rest of us are grinding away making a living from day-to-day, the circus in Augusta continues. Thank goodness somebody is paying attention.

Here's the latest:

Apparently a measure was up for consideration that would bar any Registered Maine Guides from guiding for a period of 3 years if they were convicted of a criminal misdemeanor. Further, convicted felons would be banned from the guiding profession for 10 years.

The proposal was heavily opposed by the Maine Professional Guides Association, so the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife caved, and the matter was dropped for now.

Good people make mistakes in life, so I guess I'd hate to see them lose their livelihood over a misdemeanor.

But a convicted felon? I'd draw the line there and support revocation of guiding privileges for offenses of a felony nature.

The DIFW plans to go back to the drawing board on this. And I suspect we'll hear more on the issue at some point down the road.

In the meantime, I guess us guides need to keep our noses clean. A tough thing for a rafting guide to do I can attest....

... But is there something in the water in the Capitol Building in Augusta, that when consumed, makes otherwise relatively intelligent people say and do stupid things?

Must be.

Case in point: One of our bad-water drinking legislators has proposed raising the Gov's salary. Not by a little mind you. I'd be all for allowing the Gov an extra measure of smoked salmon and brie at the Blaine House.

No, Rep. Moore, likely an otherwise nice guy and Republican from Standish, has offered up a bill to boost the Gov's pay from the current just-sneaking-by $70,000 to somewhere upwards of 221,000. For reference, that would make it then the highest governors pay in the US.

Now Rep. Moore, aren't you part of the same legislature that in recent times has tried to close the huge state budget deficit (in fairness, the same deficit dumped into the lap of Gov. Baldacci by Angus "Maine is on the Move" King) by such scams and gimmicks as the canoe and kayak tax, as well as God only knows how many other "fee" increases (for us outdoorsy-types we've seen it in our hunting, fishing and snowmobile licenses and registrations, guides licenses too, and we know it doesn't stop there) and "revenue" enhancements and whatever other tricky names you try to hide what is most honestly known as a TAX from the common people (those would be the ones who actually have to PAY the taxes, er, fees et al).

Where do you expect this extra money to come from? A hiker tax? A shoelace tax? A donut tax? A tax on our tax??

Rep. Moore, aren't we already the highest overall taxed state in the entire nation?

Let's see now: Highest taxes, lowest Gov's salary.

Works for me!

How about a merit increase instead?

Bring state spending under control (without raising taxes) and then we can talk about a pay increase for Maine's chief executive. And maybe even you nice folks in the legislature.

In the meantime, get somebody from the Maine DEP over to the State House quick-like to test the water. Lest other legislators imbibe and start proposing other salary increases.

Except, of course, if it's mine...

When you go to the polls to vote a couple of weeks from now, I hope you'll consider voting "yes" for the Question 2 transportation bond issue.

In amongst the $33 million for roads and bridges and all the sand and gravel stuff is $400,000 for new walking and biking trails.

I realize that's a small part of the big pie, but I think it's still very much worth supporting.

More dollars for improving our transportation system, from roads to public transit on down to trails that provide recreation and connect our communities is a good thing.

It's 'Yes on 2' from this trails supporter.

You remember the canoe and kayak tax that some members of our esteemed state legislature proposed awhile back?

Yeah, we just loved that idea.

Well, hold on. To your pint glass, that is.

Yep, the legislature is at it again.

Sneaky, very sneaky.

According to Yankee Brew News (Aug/Sept 2005 edition), the Taxation Committee of the Maine Legislature is pushing for passage of a bill (LD 1595) that would increase the tax on...

Beer!

Yes, it's true.

YBN says that the tax could increase the cost of a pint by as much as a dollar.

Whoa!

First canoes and kayaks. Now our beloved post-outdoor activity refreshment.

It's time to stand together and oppose this affront to decent hard-hiking and paddling and climbing and whatever outdoor enthusiasts!

Outdoors-people unite! Couch potatoes unite! We all love our beer and we don't want to pay any more taxes to get it!

Contact your legislator today and tell them NO to increasing the tax on beer!

Four small planeloads of state legislators got an aerial tour of Maine's North Woods yesterday.

Now, I get a little nervous any time I hear of the good folks in Augusta looking at anything for fear they'll propose yet another law or tax or fee or something. At least the plane trip got them out of the state capital for awhile. Couped up in a Cessna, I guess they couldn't do too much harm, but I'd rather see them at home in their backyards sipping a cold one reading the comics. Anything but comtemplating new legislation.

I'm not sure what conclusions, if any, they arrived at on their trip, but it appears that Pat McGowan, Maine's Conservation Commissioner, got them a pretty good eyeful of everything from the commercial forestlands to the conservation lands to all the beauty and diversity that makes our Maine woods so unique and valuable to all of us.

I do like how Don Marean, R-Hollis, described the tour: "There's nothing like seeing it firsthand."

It's true.

I wish more people could and would take such a tour of Maine's North Woods, whether by air or by vehicle. It would likely reduce the many misconceptions about what's truly happening up that way, and make working together to address the important issues regarding the forest's future a little easier.

Our legislators in Augusta may have had a hard time deciding whether or not to impose a canoe and kayak tax recently, but they didn't waste much time getting a bill passed to ban remote-control hunting in Maine.

Thank goodness. See, there is a modicum of common sense up there in the Capitol. On occasion.

By the way, who the heck has ever heard of remote-control hunting?

Now, I'm not a hunter, but I do support the right and long tradition in Maine to hunt for sport. I remember a thing or two about wildlife management from my forestry days at the University of Maine, and therefore understand the principles of game management. And hunting--appalling as it is to many people--plays a critical role in maintaining healthy population levels of the various game species, both big and small.

But remote-control hunting? No way. Hunters have a big enough advantage as it is. They're called guns. By at least having to track their quarry the old-fashioned way, rather than using high-tech gear, it keeps at least some of the sport in the sport.

Way to go on this one Gov.

Now how about that canoe and kayak tax? And you never got back to me on my hiking boot tax? When you gonna call?

I'm sure by now that you've had just about enough of all the 'pay to play' proposals to tax kayakers and canoeists, hikers who wear their hats backwards, bicyclists with seat rash, and God-only-knows what else...

It won't happen this year. But with the creeping incrementalism of government, the topic of outdoor user fees will be back, and we may, ultimately, end up succumbing to them.

We've all got to pay our fair share somehow. Some will argue that we already pay too much, others will say not enough. And there's a fair contigent in the middle--like myself, wary though I am-- who says that a little more here and there might be okay.

We'll see how it plays out.

I must ask though, what in the heck does Daryl DeJoy of the Wildlife Alliance of Maine mean when, regarding the outdoor users tax, he says, "This is not so much a tax as a user fee. I see nothing wrong with user fees."

Hmmm. Now, I'm curious Daryl, if we called the amount we pay in on our IRS Form 1040 a "user fee", would that make everything better?

Ok, back to my happy place. Hiking and paddling and biking season is upon us and my focus is on FUN. Let's go there and leave the serious stuff for later.

Years ago, when I first moved to Maine from away, the state tourism people had a pretty smart visitor (we called them tourists back then) marketing campaign going on.

It seemed that you could stop just about anywhere along the road and pick up a handful of well-designed, very informative brochures that highlighted Maine's wealth of recreational resources. They all had clever titles like "Hike Me.", "Canoe Me.", "Bike Me." and so forth. Being a newbie to Maine, I took handfuls of them and put them to use exploring my new home state (uh, with the help of my Dad and his car, of course). Just the purpose the brochures were meant for. Ding!

But that campaign soon disappeared...

We have so much to offer here in Maine with regard to outdoor recreation, but we just can't seem to make a coordinated effort to promote it properly. So when I heard of the Governor's proposed ecotourism initiative, I was hoping that it might take off in a similar direction.

At first glance it looks like nothing more than a bunch of tax breaks, tax credits and tax incentives, which are, I'm sure, pretty exciting to the hunting and fishing camp owners who will benefit, but they didn't do much for me.

But there's more.

The measure does appear to include developing more interpretive visitor centers, a series of new recreational guides and maps, and "incorporating numerous trailheads, historic sites, and nature centers into highway-based thematic itineraries."

Sounds good. Now if only I knew what a highway-based thematic itinerary was. If it means that people will actually be able to find the outdoor stuff-to-do that's here, then that's a good thing.

Or maybe we could just give everybody coming over the bridge a DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer and call it good.

What a mess!

I don't want to get too far off topic here, but dammit, this state budget merry-go-round is an embarrassing mess. What in the world is going on in Augusta?

First I hear about registration fees (taxes!) on canoes and kayaks. And now I find out that there is some sort of access fee proposed for wilderness users? C'mon. I was tolerant to a point, but no more.

What other fees and fines and revenue enhancements are hidden away in this proposed budget?

We'll likely never know. And that's the problem. Too much of it is flying under the radar screen. And as you well know, or if you don't you should, once these fees are implemented, they will never, EVER go down or go away. And you're going to pay dearly.

Now let me be clear: I am the last person to advocate for a tax increase of any kind. Too much spending is the issue, not a shortage of tax dollars. We pay plenty.

But at least the proposal to temporarily increase the state sales tax to 6% is something that's highly visible. It's out in the open. We can see it and understand it. And that also means when the appropriate time comes (i.e. we get ourselves out of this budget fiasco) we can also GET RID OF IT in one fell swoop.

But what do I know? I'm just a lowly taxpayer who likes to hike.

Wilderness access fees. Canoe and kayak fees. Bah! How come I haven't had any legislators inquire about the 2 1/2 cent tax on hiking boots I proposed earlier. I'm waiting by the phone. Surely someone will call...

Hah!

I thought that would get your attention.

Hey, since it looks like the proposed canoe and kayak tax, er, registration fee, is being nixed from the budget, I propose a 2 1/2 cent tax on hiking boots.

Or backpacks.

Or water bottles.

Or matches.

Geez, c'mon now. The state needs the money. Can't we hikers all do without an extra freeze-dried dinner or two to help out???

Canoe and kayak owners in Maine may soon have to pay to play if the legislature follows through on its proposal to mandate a $10 annual registration sticker for all canoes and kayaks.

It's an idea that's been kicked around before, but I guess when you're millions of $$$ in the hole and there's very little light at the bottom of the economic hole, you can make an easier case for it.

Fine. $10. I can live with it. The money will go to help the Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife cover their current budget shortfall. A good cause.

That's okay. For now.

There's a funny thing about taxes, fees and other "revenue enhancement" schemes, though. They're persistent. They never seem to go down, or go away, once enacted.

And I'm skeptical about the numbers. The DIFW estimates there are about 100,000 canoes and kayaks out there to be taxed, er, registered. That appears to be a reasonable number. Except then the DIFW says that in two years they will be counting on revenue from 180,000 canoes and kayaks.

Hmmm.

So, in two years Maine will have 80,000 more canoes and kayaks, almost double that of today? Where are these additional boats coming from? Is there a sudden surge in canoe sales predicted? Somebody please let Old Town and Lincoln know, okay.

The state is factoring this increase into their budget, straight-faced, and planning on the additional revenue. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this appears to be more of the same shell game we've seen in Augusta for some time.

I'll pay the $10 fee, just like I said. No problem.

But how about including a sunset provision in the bill (duh!) that requires this new fee to expire in two years, or least trigger a review, so that when the DIFW budget is back in order, we're not left with another fee that just keeps taking and taking and taking...

Allright paddlers, ante up!

If the proposed $10 million Trails for a Healthy Maine Bond effort is successful, there's going to be a heckuva lot more hiking, walking and other shared-use trails around Maine. And that's a very worthwhile thing!

The Healthy Maine Trails Coalition is behind LR 1529: An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue for Trails for a Healthy Maine." The measure would help to speed up the actual construction of many trails projects throughout the state.

We can never have enough trails of any kind, for recreation and good health, for tourism and transportation. All too often there's not enough money to add miles to our precious trails system, so passage of this bond would be a huge boost. Imagine more trails like the Eastern Trail, the Portland Trails network, Kennebec River Rail Trail and many others.

The trails bond has plenty of support to date, mine included, but more is needed to make this effort a reality. This is how it gets done. Please add your voice to the mix.