July 15, 2019 at 9:44 am
By Diano Circo, Chief Planner
Few things are more inviting on a summer day than a boat on a Maine lake. Maine’s 5,000 lakes and ponds, and 32,000 miles of river and streams, are essential parts of our unique cultural and natural heritage. Not only that, they’re owned by you. Maine’s Great Ponds, all inland bodies of water greater 10 acres in size (and dammed waterbodies over 30 acres), are owned by the people of Maine. I like to think of them as Maine’s blue State Parks. Think about how you might feel if there was a beautiful state park near you full of recreational opportunities, but completely inaccessible.
Getting the public to Maine’s blue parks is the responsibility of MDIFW’s Water Access Program. Started in 1986, the program has 144 water access sites around the state. They come in all shapes and sizes, from remote rustic hand-carries on undeveloped ponds (Hunnewell Lake, St. John Plantation), to large Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant trailer launches on some of Maine’s biggest lakes (Sebago Lake, Raymond).
The program receives federal funds through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sport Fish Restoration Program. These funds are generated through excise taxes paid on boating and sporting equipment utilized by anglers and federal gas taxes paid by boaters. State funds come through sale of the Sportsman’s License Plate and a small portion of the state gas tax. The program does not receive state general fund dollars. MDIFW also partners with state programs like Land for Maine’s Future and the Shore and Harbor Management Fund to acquire, develop, and reconstruct water access sites.
Over the next few months the water access program will be working to reconstruct and add ADA improvements to existing sites on Damariscotta Lake in Jefferson, Pemaquid Pond in Nobleboro, and Big Indian Pond in St. Albans. New hand-carry sites are being developed on Hancock Pond and Sandy Pond in Embden, and new acquisitions will be completed soon on Annabessacook Lake in Winthrop and the St. John River in St. Francis.
I hope you get a chance to spend a few hours (or days) this summer on one of our blue parks. You can find a list of public access sites in Maine here: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/water_activities/boating/public_boat_launches/boat_sites.shtml