Committee amends advisory‑board membership to add snowmobile representative and expands nonvoting seats

Lawmakers considered LD 22 21, a department bill to amend the composition of the Landowners and Land Users Relations Advisory Board to better reflect modern recreational uses and reduce landowner risk.

Senator Baldacci and department witnesses said the bill implements recommendations from the Public Access to Private Land Working Group and would increase outdoor‑recreation representation, add a representative for the North Maine Woods, and add five nonvoting members from state agencies (including DACF and the Bureau of Warden Service).

Chris McCabe, landowner relations corporal with the Maine Warden Service, described the amendment as aligning board membership with the working group’s membership and said the change would improve collaboration and address contemporary access pressures. Jodi Sapphire, deputy commissioner at the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, spoke in support and said the board would serve as an ongoing forum to monitor and carry forward working‑group recommendations.

Committee members discussed the draft language and an accidental omission in section 1(a)(5) that failed to list a snowmobile club representative. Representative Clucci moved to amend LD 22 21 to add a snowmobile association representative to the enumerated outdoor recreationists. The committee suspended rules, went into a work session and the amendment was put to a roll‑call vote. The clerk recorded 11 votes in favor with 3 absent; the motion passed among members present.

Next steps: The bill, as amended to add snowmobile representation, was passed out of work session. The committee closed the work session and set remote‑vote deadlines for members to register their votes on supplemental items as needed.