Rep. Arata's Nonpartisan News from the Legislature

Town of New Gloucester 385 Intervale Road, New Gloucester, ME 04260 (207) 926-4126 (phone) / (207) 926-4136 (fax)

Town of Poland 1231 Maine Street, Poland, ME 04274 (207) 998-4601 (phone) / (207) 998-2002 (fax)

State of Maine Online Absentee Ballot Request Service

Maine citizens who are registered to vote may use this free service to request an absentee ballot for the November 8, 2022 general election.

Ballots must be received no later than 8:00 p.m. EDT on Election Day.  For more information, please visit the Upcoming Elections page.

Please request your ballot by clicking here.

Bureau of Parks and Lands Announces New Outdoor Recreation Investments Map

The Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry's (DACF) Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL) recently released the new Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Outdoor Recreation Investments Map for Maine.  It was developed in collaboration with the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation, Maine Recreation and Park Association, Maine Department of Transportation, Appalachian Mountain Club, and The Nature Conservancy.  The Map highlights investments in outdoor recreation, such as trails, parks, and other projects.  870 LWCF-assisted outdoor recreation projects included on the map are safeguarded for everyone to enjoy perpetually. 

Two Maine Conservation Corps environmental stewards dedicated over 3,000 hours of service to creating the interactive recreation map.  The process involved converting 2,700 paper records into a dynamic GIS database.

An additional position included in the recently enacted State budget will support improvements to the Map and help ensure resources developed through the fund remain permanently available to the public.

Since 1964, royalties paid by companies drilling for oil and gas on the outer continental shelf have been dedicated to LWCF to protect national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, and to provide grants for State and local parks, along with outdoor recreation projects.   Over the past six decades, the LWCF has played a pivotal role in ensuring those resources will be here for future generations.  After years of diverting the program's specifically intended funds away from conservation, the LWCF was permanently funded in 2020 with the leadership of Maine's congressional delegation.

The Outdoor Recreation Investments Map is located on the BPL Web site found here.

Supporting Maine's Landowners

Do you have illegally dumped trash on your land? 

Landowner Appreciation Day is Sunday, September 18, 2022.

Each year, since 2013, volunteers and game wardens have picked up 36,000 to more than 200,000 lbs. of trash, including 1,000-2,000 tires on 100+ sites.

If you would like your land to be considered as a clean-up site, please contact Corporal Kris MacCabe at kris.maccabe@maine.gov or Corporal Rick LaFlamme at rick.laflamme@maine.gov.

Upcoming Agricultural State Fair Dates