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The University of Maine

Maine Policy Review

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Articles 31 - 60 of 525

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Reflecting On Maine’S Changing Productive Coastal Region, Teresa R. Johnson Jan 2020

Reflecting On Maine’S Changing Productive Coastal Region, Teresa R. Johnson

Maine Policy Review

This article reflects on Maine’s changing coastal region and blue economy. Much of Maine’s coastal economy is now considered to be overly dependent on a single commercial fishery, the iconic Maine lobster fishery. Marine aquaculture has grown in the last 10 years, with expansion expected both on land and sea. Marine renewable energy is also an emerging use but remains a frontier. These changes have been exacerbated by demographic changes characterized by youth out- and amenity migration. As community demographics and coastal uses continue to change following the region’s postproductive transition, policymakers must be proactive in considering potential conflicts emerging …

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The Political Geography Of Maine’S Economic Future: Cities And Their Metro Regions, Joseph W. Mcdonnell Jan 2020

The Political Geography Of Maine’S Economic Future: Cities And Their Metro Regions, Joseph W. Mcdonnell

Maine Policy Review

Following a global trend that now has more than 55 percent of the world population living in cities and their metro regions, Maine’s economic and population growth are driven by our cities and the surrounding metro areas. The trend, however, will not meet Maine’s goal to attract a future workforce and reduce greenhouse gas emissions without regional solutions to housing, education, homelessness, climate adaptation, and public transportation. Meeting these challenges will require a loosening of attitudes about local control and an embracing of regional solutions to the critical issues inhibiting Maine’s economic growth. The political leadership of the state, cities, …

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Declining Economic Opportunity And A Shrinking Safety Net: Consequences For Maine, Ryan M. Larochelle Jan 2020

Declining Economic Opportunity And A Shrinking Safety Net: Consequences For Maine, Ryan M. Larochelle

Maine Policy Review

Ryan LaRochelle discusses the consequences of declining economic opportunity and a shrinking social safety net for Maine. LaRochelle recommends that policymakers in Augusta recognize how precarious many Mainers’ economic situations are and take action.

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Indigenous Voices Charting A Course Beyond The Bicentennial: Eba Gwedji Jik-Sow-Dul-Din-E Wedji Gizi Nan-Ul-Dool-Tehigw (Let’S Try To Listen To Each Other So That We Can Get To Know Each Other), Gail Dana-Sacco Jan 2020

Indigenous Voices Charting A Course Beyond The Bicentennial: Eba Gwedji Jik-Sow-Dul-Din-E Wedji Gizi Nan-Ul-Dool-Tehigw (Let’S Try To Listen To Each Other So That We Can Get To Know Each Other), Gail Dana-Sacco

Maine Policy Review

The Indigenous peoples of this area, now known as the state of Maine, hold a cultural framework embedded in our languages that reflects a sophisticated understanding of our intimate and complex connections with all people and with the environment in which we live. Our collective identity as Indigenous people resides here and provides a firm foundation for strong healthy communities. Author Gail Dana-Sacco explores the history of Maine’s Indigenous peoples and their interactions with the state of Maine over its 200-year history.

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A Call For Repairing The Harms Of Colonization: Maine’S Bicentennial As An Opportunity For Truth, Acknowledgment, Resistance, And Healing, Erika Arthur, Penthea Burns Jan 2020

A Call For Repairing The Harms Of Colonization: Maine’S Bicentennial As An Opportunity For Truth, Acknowledgment, Resistance, And Healing, Erika Arthur, Penthea Burns

Maine Policy Review

The authors examine the colonized history and present of Maine to recognize that the state’s bicentennial may not mean the same thing to all who live here. They explore the impact of settler colonialism on Wabanaki people and settler descendants and recognize the ways colonization lives in our laws, structures, policies, and worldview. And yet, in Maine today, there are already examples of the holistic, indigenous-led engagement, healing, and advocacy that this history and present call for, such as the work of Maine-Wabanaki REACH. However, this moment asks for many more of us who trace our lineages to settlers to …

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Ed Muskie, Political Parties, And The Art Of Governance, Don Nicoll Jan 2020

Ed Muskie, Political Parties, And The Art Of Governance, Don Nicoll

Maine Policy Review

In its 200-year history as a state, Maine has gone through three major political realignments and is now in the midst of a fourth. The Jefferson Democratic Republicans supplanted the Federalists to achieve statehood. The Republican Party dominated state politics from the eve of the Civil War until 1954. The Maine Democratic Party, under the leadership of Edmund S. Muskie and Frank Coffin, transformed it into a competitive two-party state. Now the goals of open, responsive, and responsible governance that Muskie and Coffin sought through healthy competition and civil discourse are threatened by bitter, dysfunctional national trends in the political …

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From Wilderness To Timberland To Vacationland To Ecosystem: Maine’S Forests, 1820–2020, Lloyd C. Irland Jan 2020

From Wilderness To Timberland To Vacationland To Ecosystem: Maine’S Forests, 1820–2020, Lloyd C. Irland

Maine Policy Review

The 200 years since Maine statehood span a series of changing metaphors used by people to understand the forest and its values: the forest as wilderness, as timberland, as vacationland, and as ecosystem. These metaphors have succeeded each other over time, but broadly speaking, they all persist to one degree or another. These ways of viewing and using the forest can conflict or can come to uneasy truces, but new developments can revive the tensions. Public policy is always well behind the shifting needs as timberland comes to be seen as vacationland and vacationland as ecosystem. Further, conflicts between different …

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Maine’S Public Reserved Lands: A Tale Of Loss And Recovery, Richard Barringer, Lee Schepps, Thomas Urquhart, Martin Wilk Jan 2020

Maine’S Public Reserved Lands: A Tale Of Loss And Recovery, Richard Barringer, Lee Schepps, Thomas Urquhart, Martin Wilk

Maine Policy Review

The story of Maine’s public reserved lands—or public lots—is worth the telling for its own sake and for its enduring lessons. Provided for in the Maine Constitution of 1820 and neglected for more than a century, the public lots were once scattered widely across the Unorganized Territory of northern, western, and eastern Maine. Today, they are restored to public use and benefit, reassembled into large blocks of land that, in aggregate, are more than twice the size of Baxter State Park. These consolidated public lots offer a wide spectrum of extraordinary values, include many of the crown jewels of Maine’s …

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What Does The Future Hold For Maine’S Lobster Industry?, James Acheson, Ann Acheson Jan 2020

What Does The Future Hold For Maine’S Lobster Industry?, James Acheson, Ann Acheson

Maine Policy Review

The Maine lobster industry is one of the most successfully managed fisheries in the world. Catches have been at record high levels since the 1990s due to favorable environmental factors, regulations enacted over a period of years, and the conservation ethic of fishermen. The industry faces problems that threaten its future: shell disease, climate change, increased regulations to protect right whales, and economic uncertainty. Several approaches could help protect the lobster industry, including enacting lower trap limits, expanding markets for live and processed lobster, and increasing in-state processing capacity. The latter two are already underway, but prospects for lower trap …

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Maine’S Changing Demographics: Implications For Workforce, Economy, And Policy, Amanda K. Rector Jan 2020

Maine’S Changing Demographics: Implications For Workforce, Economy, And Policy, Amanda K. Rector

Maine Policy Review

The fundamental purpose of any policy is to safeguard and improve the well-being of people. The understanding of any policy decision, therefore, must start with an understanding of demographics. This article reviews Maine’s demographics using data from the 1820 and 1920 censuses and comparing them to recent population estimates. The author finds trends that persist over time as well as ways in which Maine’s demographics have changed over the past 200 years. As 2019 ended and 2020 began, Maine saw its largest challenges as being related to the current demographic situation: slow population growth, limited available workforce, and increased demand …

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Finding Inspiration (And Profit) In Maine’S Living Heritage: New Entrepreneurs Drawing Upon The Past, Kreg Ettenger 9290424 Jan 2020

Finding Inspiration (And Profit) In Maine’S Living Heritage: New Entrepreneurs Drawing Upon The Past, Kreg Ettenger 9290424

Maine Policy Review

Maine has a rich heritage of traditional arts and industries that derive from its Indigenous and settler populations and the ways its people have used its natural resources and adapted to its diverse environments. This heritage continues today in a variety of forms, from economic activities like resource harvesting to artistic expressions such as music, dance, storytelling, and the visual arts. This essay looks at how traditional or folk activities, including foods, beverages, and other artisanal industries, continue to play an important role in Maine’s economic, social, and cultural landscape. Far from being quaint traditions maintained for cultural reasons, they …

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Progress For Young Mainers Paved By Education, Michael P. Delorge Jan 2020

Progress For Young Mainers Paved By Education, Michael P. Delorge

Maine Policy Review

Each year the Margaret Chase Smith Library sponsors an essay contest for high school seniors. The essay prompt for 2020 asked students to propose how they would make Maine “the way life should be” for young people so that more of them will choose to live in a state with one of the oldest populations in the nation. Essays have been edited for length. This is the second-place essay.

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Maine Conservation In An Age Of Global Climate Change, Richard Judd Jan 2020

Maine Conservation In An Age Of Global Climate Change, Richard Judd

Maine Policy Review

Maine has been a key player in one of the most dramatic changes in conservation strategy since Gifford Pinchot coined the term in the 1890s as private nonprofit land trusts have become essential to the conservation movement in the state. Land trusts spearheaded the new approach to conservation by drawing together landowners, philanthropic organizations, state and federal agencies, older conservation organizations, and most importantly, ordinary citizens. Given its prominence in the land-trust movement, Maine has provided leadership in a second revolutionary trend as trust managers embraced the emerging science of ecosystem management.

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Institutional Challenges To Workforce Development In Maine, Thomas Remington Jan 2020

Institutional Challenges To Workforce Development In Maine, Thomas Remington

Maine Policy Review

The problem of workforce development in Maine has become acute. An important factor for understanding the issue of workforce development, in Maine and nationally, is rising economic inequality. High inequality impedes the working of labor markets, and over time, reduces opportunity and mobility. In Maine, as elsewhere, income gaps have widened between rich and poor while the middle class has been shrinking. Moreover, the gap between high-income and low-income counties has been growing. Meantime, many good-paying jobs are going unfilled. Comprehensive institutional solutions can help overcome these problems by matching supply and demand in the labor market, but they are …

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Structural Inequalities In The Opportunity Maine Tax Credit, Daniel S. Soucier Jan 2020

Structural Inequalities In The Opportunity Maine Tax Credit, Daniel S. Soucier

Maine Policy Review

Daniel Soucier discusses the structural inequalities in the Maine Opportunity Tax Credit.

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Using Cooperation Science To Strengthen Maine’S Local Food Economy, Afton Hupper, Sujan Chakraborty, Timothy M. Waring Jan 2019

Using Cooperation Science To Strengthen Maine’S Local Food Economy, Afton Hupper, Sujan Chakraborty, Timothy M. Waring

Maine Policy Review

While Maine’s food system has enjoyed a recent surge in demand for local food, this opportunity for economic growth has been impeded by a difficult business climate for farmers, small business owners, and institutions. We believe this difficult business climate necessitates policy interventions to sustain the local food economy. Cooperation science can be used to tackle the social dilemmas persisting in Maine’s local food economy and buttress the argument for increased support from the state. In this article, we implement the framework of cooperation to address the key concerns of farm viability, business succession, and increased food sourcing in local …

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Attracting New Maine Residents: The Effects Of Educational Attainment And Age On Interstate Mobility, Paul Leparulo Jan 2019

Attracting New Maine Residents: The Effects Of Educational Attainment And Age On Interstate Mobility, Paul Leparulo

Maine Policy Review

Maine faces population issues that pose considerable headwinds to the state’s economic growth and prosperity. Restoring a more robust growth path will require attracting new residents to the state. This article examines some of the factors that cause individuals to relocate across state lines. I quantify the relationship between educational attainment, age, and interstate mobility and find that having a bachelor’s degree or higher has a large, positive, statistically significant effect on the probability of making an interstate move. The effect is strongest for people in their twenties (the youngest age in the restricted sample) and diminishes with age. The …

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At The Confluence Of Public Policy And History: The Value Of Historical Thinking In Public Policy Development, Daniel S. Soucier Jan 2019

At The Confluence Of Public Policy And History: The Value Of Historical Thinking In Public Policy Development, Daniel S. Soucier

Maine Policy Review

Daniel Soucier explains why conversations between those who study how policy decisions affected society in the past and those tasked with shaping the future are beneficial.

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The Hobby Lobby Case And Arguments Around An Equal Rights Amendment, Madeleine Archer Jan 2019

The Hobby Lobby Case And Arguments Around An Equal Rights Amendment, Madeleine Archer

Maine Policy Review

Each year the Margaret Chase Smith Library sponsors an essay contest for high school seniors. The essay prompt for 2019 asked students to assess the arguments for and against an Equal Rights Amendment.

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Preparing For A Changing Climate: The State Of Adaptation Planning In Maine’S Coastal Communities, Eileen Sylvan Johnson, Esperanza Stancioff, Tora Johnson, Sarena Sabine, Haley Maurice, Claire Reboussin Jan 2019

Preparing For A Changing Climate: The State Of Adaptation Planning In Maine’S Coastal Communities, Eileen Sylvan Johnson, Esperanza Stancioff, Tora Johnson, Sarena Sabine, Haley Maurice, Claire Reboussin

Maine Policy Review

Climate change is having a range of impacts on Maine’s coastal communities, impacts that will be further exacerbated by increased coastal flooding, storm events, and a warming Gulf of Maine. To better understand the status of adaptation planning by Maine coastal communities, we conducted a survey and in-depth interviews with decision makers from coastal communities. We found that communities are addressing the effects of climate change and have moved towards specific implementation strategies. Adaptation planning to date includes incorporation of climate change impacts in comprehensive planning and addressing impacts on roads, culverts, and waterfront infrastructure. Respondents indicated the need for …

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How Well Is Maine Doing? Comparing Well-Being Across Maine Counties, Angela Daley, Andrew Crawley, Muntasir Rahman, Jake Demosthenes, Erin Lyons Jan 2018

How Well Is Maine Doing? Comparing Well-Being Across Maine Counties, Angela Daley, Andrew Crawley, Muntasir Rahman, Jake Demosthenes, Erin Lyons

Maine Policy Review

Maine has experienced major challenges over the last decade including recession, stagnant recovery, and industrial and population decline. But by some measures, Maine is still seen as one of the best in the United States for well-being. In this paper, we critique the notion of what well-being is and how it is measured. Based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Better Life Initiative, we then propose and construct an index to compare well-being across Maine counties. Our work gives new insights on the types of challenges counties are facing and provides policymakers a new way of empirically understanding …

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The Role Of Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, And Refugees In Confronting Maine’S Demographic Challenges, Robert W. Glover Jan 2016

The Role Of Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, And Refugees In Confronting Maine’S Demographic Challenges, Robert W. Glover

Maine Policy Review

The state of Maine currently faces a looming “demographic winter.” The state and its communities will struggle to maintain viable and vibrant communities in the decades to come due the current demographic situation, and will encounter a host of economic and political challenges as a result. Working to make Maine an attractive destination for immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees must be at the forefront of efforts to address this challenge. This article lays out the difficult demographic situation that Maine currently faces and will face in the years to come and articulates why, more than ever, fostering greater diversity in …

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Moving Up The Waste Hierarchy In Maine: Learning From “Best Practice” State-Level Policy For Waste Reduction And Recovery, Cindy Isenhour, Travis Blackmer, Travis Wagner, Linda Silka, John Peckenham, David Hart, Jean Macrae Jan 2016

Moving Up The Waste Hierarchy In Maine: Learning From “Best Practice” State-Level Policy For Waste Reduction And Recovery, Cindy Isenhour, Travis Blackmer, Travis Wagner, Linda Silka, John Peckenham, David Hart, Jean Macrae

Maine Policy Review

As Maine residents look toward the future, it is increasingly clear that more sustainable waste and materials management solutions will be necessary. A recent stakeholder engagement process involving nearly 200 industry professionals, municipal representatives and citizen groups confirmed this point. As we move together toward a more sustainable waste management system, participants in the engagement process identified an outstanding need to learn more about policies options. This article responds to that need with a review of state level policies designed to reduce waste generation and increase material recovery rates. We find there are a wide variety of state-level policy tools …

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Creating Sustainable, Cost-Effective, And Equitable Waste-Management Programs In Maine Communities, Luisa S. Deprez, Ron Deprez Jan 2016

Creating Sustainable, Cost-Effective, And Equitable Waste-Management Programs In Maine Communities, Luisa S. Deprez, Ron Deprez

Maine Policy Review

The authors present several perspectives on popular municipal solid waste (MSW) policies and programs that can help guide decision making to address the waste hierarchy as well as to extend thinking in regard to MSW.

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The Proposed Park In Maine's North Woods: Preferences Of Out-Of-State Visitors, Ryunosuke Matsuura, Sahan T. Dissanayake, Andrew G. Meyer Jan 2016

The Proposed Park In Maine's North Woods: Preferences Of Out-Of-State Visitors, Ryunosuke Matsuura, Sahan T. Dissanayake, Andrew G. Meyer

Maine Policy Review

The proposal to create a new national park and national recreation area in northern Maine has met with much support and also much opposition from within Maine. Over 90 percent of overnight visitors to Maine recreation sites come from out of state but currently there is no information about out-of-state visitors’ preferences for the proposed park. Our research contributes to filling this information gap by identifying preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for the proposed park from survey respondents from seven neighboring states. A majority of the 532 respondents stated that they would be likely to visit the new park, …

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Municipal Approaches In Maine To Reduce Single-Use Consumer Products, Travis Wagner Jan 2016

Municipal Approaches In Maine To Reduce Single-Use Consumer Products, Travis Wagner

Maine Policy Review

Maine’s solid waste management hierarchy prioritizes reduction and reuse over recycling. While most municipalities in Maine have focused on increasing recycling, they have undertaken minimal efforts to specifically foster source reduction and reuse. In this paper, Travis Wagner examines the approaches adopted in Maine by the state and by municipalities to reduce the consumption of single-use consumer products including bans, fees, consumer education, choice architecture, and retail take back.

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The Trans-Pacific Partnership’S Potential Economic Impact On Maine, Catherine Reilly Delutio, Philip A. Trostel Jan 2016

The Trans-Pacific Partnership’S Potential Economic Impact On Maine, Catherine Reilly Delutio, Philip A. Trostel

Maine Policy Review

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a free-trade agreement (FTA) between 12 Pacific-Rim countries. If passed, it would be the largest FTA in which the United States participates. Catherine Reilly deLutio and Philip Trostel assess the potential impact of the TPP’s tariff reductions and quota increases on Maine’s economy. The results suggest that the TPP would likely generate slight increases in overall measures of Maine’s economy. The benefits would be relatively small and spread across the population.

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Tying The Knot: The Importance Of Financial Literacy Education In Maine, David M. Leach Jan 2016

Tying The Knot: The Importance Of Financial Literacy Education In Maine, David M. Leach

Maine Policy Review

David Leach discusses the importance of financial literacy and describes the Downeaster Consumer Guides, a series of publications on credit cards, debt collection, auto buying and financing, credit reports and scores, home buying and financing, consumer scams, student loans, consumer credit, elder financial protection, and high-interest loans published by Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection.

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Why Did No One See This Coming? How Did It Happen?: The 2016 Presidential Election, Sandy Maisel Jan 2016

Why Did No One See This Coming? How Did It Happen?: The 2016 Presidential Election, Sandy Maisel

Maine Policy Review

Sandy Maisel discusses the results of the 2016 presidential election.

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Where Has Maine Been? Where Is Maine Going? Taking The Long View Of Maine’S Policy Context, Linda Silka Jan 2016

Where Has Maine Been? Where Is Maine Going? Taking The Long View Of Maine’S Policy Context, Linda Silka

Maine Policy Review

Linda Silka initiates what we hope will become a regular MPR column, which looks forward and looks back at policy issues in Maine. In this piece, she reflects on discussions she had with Aram Calhoun, Andy Coburn, Carla Dickstein, and Evan Richert.

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