Workers clear leaves and debris from a handicapped accessible trail that is part of the Haselton Street Trails in Skowhegan in 2019.  Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel, file

Maine has always relied on volunteers and donations to build and maintain its trails, but advocates warn that weekend work parties and membership dues alone can’t design the kind of trails that will survive a changing climate and grow the state’s outdoor recreation economy.

That’s why advocates from The Partnership for Maine Trails want Maine voters to approve a $30 million bond in November to hire the professional engineers, heavy machinery and laborers needed to design, develop and maintain hiking, bike, snowmobile, ATV and accessible recreational trails around the state.

“Maine is a beautiful state with some magnificent trails but they receive almost no public support,” said Pete Didisheim, the advocacy director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “With the right investment, we have the potential to be a world-class outdoor recreation destination.”

Many of Maine’s best hiking and snowmobiling trails were mostly carved out by hand by an army of volunteers who are now aging out of their trail-building days, Didisheim said. The new generation of users love the trails, but don’t build their social network around the clubs that build or groom them.

Mountain biking – one of the fastest growing outdoor activities in the state – requires carefully engineered trails to help a cyclist navigate Maine’s rugged landscape, incorporating such features as berms to help cyclists round sharp corners at speed, for example.

An approved bond would provide $30 million in competitive grants awarded by the Bureau of Parks and Lands over four years to create, repair and maintain motorized, nonmotorized and multiuse trail projects across the state, including accessible paved trails. It is Maine’s first-ever trail bond.

The bond sailed through the state Legislature in April with strong bipartisan support, securing a 133-6 vote in the House and a 29-3 vote in the Senate. No one rose to speak against the bill on the House or Senate floor. The few who voted no generally oppose state borrowing in principle.

The coalition that has endorsed the Maine trails bond includes 75 Maine cities and towns, 168 businesses including L.L. Bean, 41 ATV and snowmobile clubs, and organizations like the Maine Municipal Association and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.

Maine’s $3 billion outdoor recreation industry is big business in Maine, making up 3.6% of Maine’s economy and supporting more than 30,000 jobs, according to statistics from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

However, the growing industry is struggling to recover from an estimated $5 million in trail damage caused by last winter’s back-to-back storms. This summer, Portland Trails mounted a fundraising campaign to cover $93,000 in storm-related repairs and rerouting of its 78-mile trail system.

Trail designer Steve Kasacek, assistant director of Outdoor Sport Institute in Millinocket, said he is awed by Maine’s potential as a national trail leader. He moved his family from Connecticut to Maine because of that possibility. He has helped map out more than 500 miles of potential new trails.

“What really excites me is the opportunity to use trail building for education purposes and workforce development, creating jobs and career paths in trail design and construction, as well as helping draw new people to Maine,” Kasacek said.

The bond could help a mill town like Skowhegan fund the master trail plan it adopted earlier this year that is intended to double the size of its burgeoning 25-mile trail network and diversify the local economy, said Kristina Cannon, executive director of Maine Street Skowhegan.

The Maine Appalachian Trail Club plans to build a multi-use facility in Skowhegan dedicated to improving and maintaining Maine’s section of the Appalachian Trail and meeting the growing demand for Maine-based sustainable trail design and construction skills training.

“We have all the makings of an outdoor recreation destination here,” Cannon said. “Our downtown is a stone’s throw from the Kennebec and a three-minute walk to beautiful wooded trails. Growing our trail system will keep locals healthy, create jobs, and put Skowhegan on a brand new map.”

Officials in Rumford, whose paper mill is downsizing, want the same. A bond grant could be used to build trails in the 450-acre Rumford Community Forest and help promote Rumford as a tourist destination, said George O’Keefe Jr., the town’s economic development director.

“Passing the Maine Trails Bond will greatly increase outdoor recreation funding opportunities, including in rural towns like Rumford, where promoting and enhancing outdoor recreation is a key part of our economic diversification strategy,” O’Keefe said.

The ballot measure – Question 4 – explicitly states the bond money must be used to fund motorized and non-motorized trails, which could help breathe new life into Maine’s snowmobiling community, which has taken a beating from relatively mild winters.

Before the pandemic, when registration numbers were at their peak, the industry directly contributed $459 million a year to Maine’s economy and supported almost 2,300 jobs, according to a 2020 study by the University of Maine. With food, lodging and fuel included, that total topped $600 million.

“For too long, we’ve been underinvesting in our trails,” said Maine Snowmobiling Association President Al Swett. “But that could soon change, if Maine voters endorse the Maine trails bond on Nov. 5, which I think and hope they will.”

Voters can weigh in on five ballot questions on Nov. 4. Question 1 would set a $5,000 contribution limit for political action committees. Question 2 is a $25 million research and development bond. Question 3 is a $10 million historic building restoration bond. Question 5 would decide whether to adopt the Pine Tree Flag.