Soon Labor Day will have passed and the woods will be full of politicians, a few of whom want to be Maine’s next governor. That’s a fine thing, of course, but it seems reasonable to ask the various candidates for a few answers before casting our votes. No one wants to elect a pig in a poke, right?
* As governor, would you favor renewing the effort to expand current-use taxation to include waterfront properties used in connection with the fishing industry? We already extend such favored tax status to forest land and farms; should we be helping fishermen as well?
* As governor, would you support further changes in the way properties are valued for tax purposes – to make it less likely that a single overpriced sale will skew valuations for an entire community?
* As governor, would you support the continuation of geographic isolation grants for island schools?
* As governor, would you support efforts to further empower Maine fishermen who work in coastal waters, and who now are subject to sometimes-inappropriate federal regulations?
* As governor, what would you do about the increasingly un-affordable Maine coast? West of Mount Desert, few fishermen or working people can afford to live or operate their own businesses on the shore. Would you support efforts to keep the coast affordable for Maine people?
* As governor, how would you provide more public access to the Maine coast, including berthing and mooring space for working boats?
* As governor, what would you do to support small business, particularly small enterprises that require coastal access?
* As governor, how would you deal with the lack of affordable housing on the coast and islands?
Working waterfronts are a scarce commodity on the Maine coast – of 7,000 miles of coastline, less than 25 miles are devoted to commercial purposes, and much of the rest is off limits for economic or environmental reasons. If Maine is to avoid being cut off, literally, from the sea, the state must act. The next governor has a job to do. All of us can help by making sure these and other important questions are answered by Election Day.
Community GIS
Information, we have always believed, can be very empowering for a community. So it’s with real pleasure that we report in this issue on three island-based efforts to collect, organize and disseminate Geographic Information System (GIS) data. “Consider that nearly anything on earth can be referenced by its location,” note Chris Brehme and Nathan Michaud in their article. “Combine the spatially referenced features in a map along with information that describes them, and you have a very powerful tool.”
A good start anywhere, but enhance that tool with the special characteristics of island communities: deep social networks; finite geography; a strong sense of place. “If the tool of GIS can be integrated into the tightly woven infrastructure of an island community,” they write, “its citizens will be able to maximize its benefits and minimize its costs. A truly community-integrated GIS could help its residents better visualize their past, educate their children, and plan for their future.”
For island communities, GIS exemplifies appropriate technology.