An Act To Allow the Use of Public Funds for the Repair and Maintenance of Private Roads and Bridges and To Ensure Public Access to the Seboomook Lake Region
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0099
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: DUNPHY
Amends: 12 MRSA §1803

Legislative Document 
No. 99 
H.P. 85 
House of Representatives, January 18, 2011 
An Act To Allow the Use of Public Funds for the Repair and 
Maintenance of Private Roads and Bridges and To Ensure Public 
Access to the Seboomook Lake Region 
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative DUNPHY of Embden.  (BY REQUEST) 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §1803, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 678, §13, is amended 
to read: 
5.  Distribution of information.  At the expense of the State, may cause copies of 
sections or parts of sections of this chapter and of other laws of the State relating to the 
administration of public lands to be printed and freely distributed.  The bureau may 
prepare tracts or circulars of information on the administration of public lands, which 
must be available for distribution; and 
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §1803, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2001, c. 604, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
6.  Rules.  From time to time shall adopt, amend, repeal and enforce reasonable rules 
necessary to carry out the duties assigned to it, including, but not limited to, rules: 
A.  For the protection and preservation of state parks, historic sites, the Allagash 
Wilderness Waterway, public boating facilities owned or managed by the bureau, 
submerged lands, public reserved lands and nonreserved public lands; 
B.  For the protection and safety of the public; 
C.  For observance of the conditions and restrictions, expressed in deeds of trust or 
otherwise, of the state parks, historic sites, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, public 
boating facilities owned or managed by the bureau, submerged lands, public reserved 
lands and nonreserved public lands of the State and of monuments thereon; and 
D.  For preservation of the natural beauty, historic integrity and character of the 
Allagash Wilderness Waterway. 
All rules of the bureau must be adopted in accordance with Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter II. 2; and 
Sec. 3.  12 MRSA §1803, sub-§7 is enacted to read: 
7.  Public access.  For the purpose of providing public access, may, with the consent 
of the commissioner and agreement of the owners, repair and maintain, or cause to be 
repaired and maintained, a private road, private way or bridge to provide motor vehicle 
access to: 
A.  Nonreserved public lands; 
B.  Public reserved lands; or 
C.  Private lands on which an easement guaranteeing public access for recreational 
uses is held. 
Sec. 4.  Access to the Seboomook Lake region; direction to the 
Department of Conservation.  The Department of Conservation shall negotiate an 
agreement with owners of land along an approximately 13-mile section of Northern Road 
in Soldiertown Township, West Middlesex Canal Grant and Pittston Academy Grant in 
Somerset County for the repair and maintenance of this segment of Northern Road to 
facilitate year-round motor vehicle access to lands managed by the Department of 
Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands in the Seboomook Lake region and to Pittston 
Farm. 
The Department of Conservation shall pursue exhaustively all opportunities to 
negotiate an agreement with landowners by participating in any process by which an 
agreement might reasonably be solicited and obtained. 
SUMMARY 
For the purpose of providing public access, this bill authorizes the Department of 
Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands to repair and maintain, or cause to be repaired 
and maintained, a private road, private way or bridge to provide motor vehicle access to 
nonreserved public lands, public reserved lands or private lands on which an easement 
guaranteeing public access for recreational uses is held.  The bill also directs the 
Department of Conservation to negotiate an agreement with owners of land along an 
approximately 13-mile section of Northern Road in Somerset County for the purpose of 
providing year-round motor vehicle access to public lands in the Seboomook Lake region 
and to historic Pittston Farm, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.