📝 E-Newsletter from Representative Gregg Swallow

Make Wise Firewood Choices

The Maine Forest Service, reminds Mainers and visitors to use only local and heat-treated firewood. Why? Because it is the smart thing to do and there are legal restrictions on the movement of some firewood. Untreated firewood from out-of-state is banned (www.maine.gov/firewood) and moving hardwood firewood from within Maine’s emerald ash borer quarantine areas is strictly prohibited— quarantined areas includes all of York County and the northern tip of Aroostook County (www.maine.gov/eab).   

“When people move firewood they often think their firewood is harmless or that the cost of wood is too high where they are going. However, they can unwittingly carry destructive insects and diseases with them that are far costlier,” said State Entomologist Allison Kanoti, “These pests cause devastation in the forest which can ruin the beauty and bounty of the Maine forest that people come to enjoy.”

Autumn is here, and cold weather will quickly catch up. For many, fall is the favorite season and cooler temperatures do not stop us from getting outside. With hard frosts, biting flies will abate and hardwoods will be ablaze with color, making time outside even more enjoyable. Colder nights will make firewood a more frequent accessory to overnight and outdoor pursuits. 

Whether it is a fire to drive the chill out of camp or to warm up an evening outside, firewood should come from a local source or be heat-treated. The fact is that firewood from distant sources has moved Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, oak wilt, southern pine beetle, brown spruce longhorned beetle and a host of other forest pests to new locales. 

Sources of treated or local firewood can be found online at firewood scout http://firewoodscout.org/s/ME/.

For more information about invasive forest insects and diseases visit www.maine.gov/forestpests

Secretary Dunlap receives petitions for people's veto of immunization law

Fourteen peoples veto efforts were in circulation as of the Maine Legislatures adjournment on June 20. Of those, this is the only one that has submitted signed petitions:

LD 798 (Chaptered Law 154 http://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/bills_129th/chapters/PUBLIC154.asp ): An Act to Protect Maine Children and Students from Preventable Diseases By Repealing Certain Exemptions from the Laws Governing Immunization Requirements

The law that is the subject of this peoples veto effort is now stayed from taking effect. The Secretary of States Office has 30 days to certify the petitions and determine if the threshold of registered voters signatures has been met. Proponents must submit at least 63,067 valid signatures of registered Maine voters. The LD 798 petitioners report a total of 93,531 signatures.

If this peoples veto effort is certified to have the required number of valid signatures, the peoples veto question will go before voters at the Tuesday, March 3, 2020 presidential preference primary election, which is the next statewide election. The ballot question is worded thusly:

"Do you want to reject the new law that removes religious and philosophical exemptions to requiring immunization against certain communicable diseases for students to attend schools and colleges and for employees of nursery schools and health care facilities?"

If the peoples veto effort is determined to be invalid, then the law in question will take effect the day following that determination.

Visit the Peoples Veto page of the Maine Department of the Secretary of State website https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/citizens/index.html for more information.

$1.6 Million in Federal Land and Water Conservation Funds For Maine

Andy Cutko, Director of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL), today announced $1.6 million in Land and Water Conservation Funding (LWCF) for Maine. This funding is provided by the US Department of Interior.

"It's more important than ever that we give Maine people the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy our spectacular parks and public lands," Cutko shared in a statement. LWCF funding is a vital piece of federal support that allows us to protect and maintain these open spaces. For decades Mainers have strongly supported the conservation of our forests, rivers, and lakes, and we thank our federal delegation for helping to make this funding possible."

While big-name parks get the recognition, parks in local communities receive the most impact from this program. Local parks enhance the quality of life in any community and improve public health; they also increase property values and support economic development, said Douglas Beck, Supervisor of Outdoor Recreation at BPL. Of the more than 850 LWCF sites in Maine, 650 are community-based projects spanning the state from Frenchville to Kittery. LWCF has preserved open space and created parks for nearly every resident in Maine, whether they know it or not. Beck is tasked with administering Maines LWCF funding.

Pilot Program Aims to Improve Lending Options for Library Materials

Starting next week, library patrons from nearly 70 Maine libraries will have more options for accessing library materials outside of their home library thanks to a new year-long pilot project called the Maine Reciprocal Borrowing Program. The service allows library users with a valid library card from one participating library to visit another participating library to check-out materials in person.

"Maine libraries have a long history of working together to improve access to services and lending materials," said Maine State Librarian Jamie Ritter. "This new pilot project builds on our already successful interlibrary loan system that provides statewide lending of library materials through a van delivery network between 68 libraries in every corner of the state."

While reciprocal borrowing won't replace the statewide interlibrary loan service, it offers a new convenience for Mainers who may live in one community but spend a significant portion of their time in other places for work, vacation or family obligations.

The inspiration for the pilot project stemmed from conversations that took place at the Maine Library Association's Fall Conference last year where librarians in attendance expressed a strong desire to develop initiatives that would strengthen library resources in Maine. In subsequent months, a working group identified libraries who had compatible library system software and were willing to be part of a pilot project to test how a reciprocal borrowing program would work.

"What really makes this work seamlessly is that the participating libraries are utilizing the same library system software," said James Jackson Sanborn, the Director of Maine Infonet, whose organization manages these systems. "The fact that the participating libraries all have library cards with a 14-digit barcode and the software is able to recognize a library card from a participating library makes this doable."

All participating libraries have agreed to stay in the pilot for one year in an effort to measure the extent of how the program is utilized by patrons and understand policy considerations ahead of any decision to make the program permanent or expand the scope to a larger group of libraries.

For many libraries taking part in the pilot, they are excited about the possibilities. "Our patrons' library card just got better," states Lee Koenigs, Director of Old Orchard Beach's Public Library. "To share with our library users that they can use their Old Orchard Beach Library card at dozens of other libraries across the state is huge customer service offering."

Amy Levine, Director of the Rockland Public Library feels the same way. "We're just excited to be able to offer this to our patrons and be part of the pilot. We really hope it works out well and expands in the future."

For the systematic reasons indicated by Jackson Sanborn, however, not all libraries in Maine are eligible to participate at this time. Both the Maine State Library and Maine InfoNet are continuously seeking ways to increase participation by finding solutions that eliminate these systematic and technical barriers. "It takes financial and human resources to grow the number of libraries that could eventually participate," states Jackson Sanborn, "but it's essential work and we believe good things happen when we can break down barriers to sharing library resources."

For a complete list of participating libraries and other program information, please visit: https://www.maine.gov/msl/libs/reciprocal_borrowing