Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 12 : Spring 2012 | Page 60

WATER ACCESS IN AROOSTOOK COUNTY
ANOTHER JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF MAINE
by Joe Powers

Water access in Aroostook County is a true jewel in
the Crown of Maine. Much of the access to the lakes, rivers
and streams in Aroostook County that has always been
made available by traditional access across private property
has changed due to changes in land ownership.

The Maine Department of Conservation Bureau
of Parks & Lands Boating Facility Program and the Maine
Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife has purchased
many of these “Traditional Access Sites,” thus protecting
access to these waterways for the future.

You may be familiar with these sites as they have a
big blue sign denoting “Public Access Site.” Some of these
sites include the boat launch site at Eagle Lake in the town
of Eagle Lake, the site on Portage Lake and the new site on
the Saint John River in Madawaska.

The funding for the Department of Conservation’s
Boating Facilities Program is derived from 1½ percent
of the gasoline tax. The Department of Inland Fisheries
& Wildlife Program is funded through federal taxes on
fishing equipment and distributed through the Sport Fish
Restoration Fund.

There are different types of access sites and many are
able to be accessed with a boat trailer backed into a body of
water. Others are considered ‘hand carry’ only, where you
launch your car-top boat or canoe or kayak. Many of these
sites are operated by the Department of Conservation or
Department of IF&W, while others are owned and operated
by the town or there is an agreement with a sporting club
to operate the facility. For example, the Cross Lake Boat
Landing is maintained by Sportsman’s Incorporated on
land owned by Irving Woodlands.

There are many other “Traditional Access Sites”
located to the west of Route 11 that are in the North Maine
Woods, and many are considered “Primitive Access” and
are intended to protect the fishery resources. Some water
bodies may have horsepower restrictions on them, so it is
best to check with North Maine Woods office in Ashland
to see what type of access is available before heading out to
these areas.

To provide a little historical background of the
Boating Facilities Program and funding sources here in
Maine, the following is quoted from the ‘Public Access to
Maine Waters Strategic Plan 1995 to 2000’: “The Maine
Legislature established the Boating Facilities Program in
1963 within the Bureau of Parks and Recreation to provide
public launch sites for recreational boaters. This program
provides public launching ramps, parking areas, and access
roads for inland and coastal sites. Where sites are intensively
used, the bureau provides hard surface launching ramps,
floats, and toilets.”

Over the years, the Bureau of Parks & Recreation,
now the Bureau of Parks & Lands, has worked closely with
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other state agencies, municipalities, corporate landowners,
and the public in providing funding and technical assistance
for boating facilities. In recognition of the large number of
boaters who fish, the bureau has worked especially closely
with the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in
providing access to waters with high-quality natural fisheries
or stocking programs.

In 1986, the Department of Inland Fisheries &
Wildlife initiated its own “Aquatic Access Program” to
take advantage of expanded funds earmarked for boating
access projects from the Wallop-Breaux Amendment to
the federal Sport Fish Restoration Act and began acquiring
water access sites mo