An Act to Include a Tribal Member in the Baxter State Park Authority
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0294
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: COLLINGS, JACKSON, BLIER, DANA, DRINKWATER, FAULKINGHAM, TALBOT ROSS, WOODSOME, HICKMAN, MOORE
Amends: 12 MRSA §901

Legislative Document
No. 294
H.P. 192
House of Representatives, January 27, 2023
An Act to Include a Tribal Member in the Baxter State Park 
Authority
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative COLLINGS of Portland.
Cosponsored by President JACKSON of Aroostook and
Representatives: BLIER of Buxton, DANA of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, DRINKWATER of 
Milford, FAULKINGHAM of Winter Harbor, Speaker TALBOT ROSS of Portland, 
WOODSOME of Waterboro, Senators: HICKMAN of Kennebec, MOORE of Washington.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §901, first ¶, as amended by PL 1989, c. 503, Pt. B, §56; PL 
2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §7; and PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §23, is further amended to read:
All the lands in Townships 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, Range 9 W.E.L.S. and in Townships 3, 4, 
and 6, Range 10 W.E.L.S., Piscataquis County, and Township 6, Range 8 W.E.L.S., 
Penobscot County, that have been donated and conveyed to the State in trust by Percival 
Proctor Baxter and all lands in the Townships 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, Range 9 and in Townships 
3, 4, 5 and 6, Range 10, and in Township 6, Range 8 and all lands in Piscataquis and 
Penobscot Counties that hereafter shall be are donated and conveyed to the State by 
Percival Proctor Baxter in trust for state forest, public park and public recreational purposes 
are named and shall are hereafter be named "Baxter State Park" in honor of the donor, and 
the same hereafter shall must forever be so designated on the official maps and records of 
the State. They shall be are under the joint supervision and control of, and shall must be 
administered by the Director of the Bureau of Forestry, the Commissioner of Inland 
Fisheries and Wildlife and, the Attorney General and one member of a federally recognized 
Indian nation, tribe or band in this State, and the commissioner, director and, Attorney 
General shall and member of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in this 
State have full power in the control and management of the same, under the title of Baxter 
State Park Authority, as authorized by Title 5, section 12004‑G, subsection 11. The 
Governor shall select the member who is a member of a federally recognized Indian nation, 
tribe or band in this State based on the joint recommendation of the tribal governments of 
the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikuk, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik and the 
Penobscot Nation.  If the tribal governments do not make a unanimous joint 
recommendation, the Governor shall appoint a member of a federally recognized Indian 
nation, tribe or band in this State and rotate the appointment among members of each 
federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in this State.  The member of a federally 
recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in this State serves a 4-year term. The authority 
shall receive moneys money available from trust funds established by the donor of the park 
and shall include fees collected, income from park trust funds invested by the Treasurer of 
State and other miscellaneous income derived from the park for maintenance and operation 
of the park.
SUMMARY
This bill adds one member of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in this 
State to the Baxter State Park Authority, which has full power in the control and 
management of Baxter State Park.