Disrespect for Maine’s landowners comes from more than one direction. Sure, there is trash dumping, ATV damage and resource theft, and there are plenty of landowners who post for those reasons.

There is another reason that I and several people I know have posted. It’s more insidious than your run-of-the-mill pile of asphalt shingles or moldering couch; it’s extremely difficult to clean up, and once inflicted the damage is often permanent. This damage almost always costs the landowner time and money if they wish to use the land; it limits what the landowner can do with it and likely reduces the value of the property.

The damage I and others have posted for was not done by some anonymous cretin relieving himself of unwanted junk at our expense. The damage that I and others have sustained was done by powerful organized groups acting through our state government.

The damage I’m talking about is caused by what the state calls “regulatory taking.”

This is the process by which government “takes” considerable amounts of the value of your property, severely restricts your right to use it and requires excessive permitting and fees to protect resources from the people who own them for the benefit of others.

Maine has had a long tradition of open land. The people and the state have greatly benefited from this. Sales of hunting and fishing licenses, the registration of recreational vehicles and hiking, camping and wildlife watching all add up to a lot of money.

The open land tradition was built on respect, and it is the lack of respect and consideration from our elected officials and recreational and environmental organizations that force their agendas on landowners at landowners’ expense that will kill it.

Anthony Garrity

West Newfield

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