A number of years ago, a great friend of the Maine islands whose wife had once worked at Forbes magazine—which regularly compiles lists of things capitalist and commercial—suggested the Island Institute compile a list of island attributes that could serve as an objective yardstick to detect trends from which policy and collective attention might flow. Six years ago, the Island Institute published the first edition of Island Indicators, which we have continued to publish on a biennial basis since, with a third edition based on our recent research and just-released data from the 2010 U.S. Census.
In each edition since 2006 we have tracked the kinds of statistics that every state and country attempts to track, beginning with demographic numbers and economic development indicators, but also including other civic and community trends focused on key island-affordability issues. In addition to the commonly reported indices, we focus on a number of indicators that are vitally important to island communities, such as ferry rates and the number of lobster licenses. With this third edition of Island Indicators, we have added two more indicators to the list we are tracking, including the cost of home heating oil and the cost of electricity, since we believe energy costs are going to be of vital importance to sustaining island communities in the future.
Given the severe economic downturn of the past two and a half years, it was reassuring to learn that total year round island populations have remained stable during the past decade at approximately 4,482 islanders, compared with approximately 4,489 islanders in 2000. Going back to 1990, we see that Maine island populations have increased by approximately six and a half percent compared to an eight percent increase for the state as a whole.
The island population trends revealed in the 2010 census, however, are not uniform across the archipelago. Interestingly, year-round populations increased in three of the four smaller and more isolated Downeast island communities (with the exception of Isle au Haut) and in four of the five of the Casco Bay island communities (with the possible exception of Chebeague, which had an unofficial estimate of 356 in 2000 and now has an official count of 341). Indeed, Great Diamond Island, which could barely have been considered a year-round community in 2010, now has a year-round population of between 45 and 50.
In contrast, four of the five Penobscot Bay islands experienced modest population declines of between five and six percent, with the exception of Matinicus which went from an April 1st figure of 51 in 2000 to a population of 73 a decade later. Some Matinicus islanders believe this may be an anomaly based on fishermen who have a home ashore as well as one on Matinicus and claimed Matinicus residency on their census forms.
The average age in Maine’s year-round island communities continues to be much higher than in Maine overall, which is already among the oldest in the country. But the silver lining (literal as well as figurative) is that much of this overall increase in age results from the return of older islanders and other retirees to these island communities, where many of them originated as natives or summer people. Although these older islanders bring vitally important resources, skills and experience to their island communities, the islands’ aging demographic also results from a decline in the number of school-age children on islands, which places additional pressure to justify high per-pupil costs in school budgets at town meeting.
Since 2001, housing costs and property valuations have continued to skyrocket on Maine’s islands—increasing by 166 percent on the islands compared to 116 percent for Maine as a whole. If we look at the difference in the average value of houses across the islands, we find that the average house on Penobscot Bay islands was over twice the statewide average of $240,000 in 2007. The cost of housing on Casco Bay and Downeast islands was also at least half again as great as in Maine as whole—but not as extreme as in Penobscot Bay.
In the last few years, home-sales prices have dipped and stabilized a bit, making housing slightly more affordable in 2009 than in 2006. Nevertheless, the extremely high cost of housing, more than any other factor, perhaps explains why Pen Bay islands have not experienced the same increases in their year-round populations that the relatively more affordable Casco Bay and Downeast islands have.
These stark housing statistics helped lay the groundwork for a successful affordable housing bond campaign last year mounted by the Maine Islands Coalition and supported organizationally by the Island Institute. Under the leadership of Rob Snyder, the Institute’s executive vice president, and with the skillful support of then Speaker of the House, Hannah Pingree from North Haven, the Maine Legislature recommended, and the voters approved, a large new revenue bond for affordable housing throughout the state. This bond resulted in a special carve-out of over $2.7 million for Maine’s island communities—a first in Maine history.
Economically, the lobster fishery continues to be vitally important to 12 of the 15 year-round island communities. Although Maine islanders make up less than one percent of Maine’s population, they held nine percent of Maine’s lobster licenses. But as fuel and bait prices have increased, island lobstermen, particularly in Casco Bay, have felt the squeeze acutely.
Maine islanders continue to exceed state averages in terms of educational attainment—the island communities have a lower percentage of students who do not graduate from high school than the state as a whole (12 versus 15 percent) and a greater percentage of residents with college degrees than the state as a whole (33 versus 23 percent). In terms of other important civic trends, library usage among Maine’s island libraries is over twice the level of other towns with populations less than 1000 and three times the level of larger Maine towns. Voter turnout among Maine islanders in 2008 was higher than Maine’s already high state average of 76 percent, with Monhegan, North Haven, Long Island and Frenchboro leading the pack.
In summary, we find the state of Maine’s islands to be a mixed picture overall. Maine islanders are economically disadvantaged in terms of housing and energy costs—although many islands are working to mitigate those costs—and their incomes are still lower than the state average. Islanders are also older than the already graying state of Maine. But islanders clearly have benefited from the expansion of the lobster fishery during the past 10 years and continue to invest heavily in education. Island communities have a highly literate work force, read extensively and participate at extremely high levels in terms of their civic and political lives. Much of the rest of Maine would envy these statistics.
Philip Conkling is the president of the Island Institute based in Rockland, Maine.