An Act To Promote Protection of Intertidal Rockweed Habitat

CONCEPT DRAFT SUMMARY

This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.

This bill proposes to enact measures to protect intertidal rockweed habitat by closing conserved lands, including but not limited to national parks and wildlife refuges and state parks, to commercial rockweed harvesting.

This bill further proposes to enact measures to protect intertidal rockweed habitat that would allow a landowner to close certain lands for commercial rockweed harvest at that landowner's discretion. A landowner would be permitted to close the following lands to commercial rockweed harvest: land with use restrictions arising from a recorded conservation easement; land owned by a land trust or other nongovernmental conservation organization held for conservation purposes; municipal parks; land held by a nonprofit entity with a research or educational mission, such as a coastal field station; and wildlife management areas as defined by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 10001, subsection 74.

This bill further proposes to enact measures to protect intertidal rockweed habitat that would allow a municipality to close areas to commercial rockweed harvest upon approval of the majority of voters in a municipal referendum.