MAINE PUBLIC • March 12, 2025
Lawmakers heard more than five hours of testimony Wednesday from both sides of a debate over preserving Sears Island in the Town of Searsport. A pair of bills from state representative Reagan Paul would extend a conservation easement across the island and restore sand dune protections in a 330-acre parcel set aside for development. The Winterport Republican said it's time to end decades of controversial port proposals for the island in the town of Searsport. The latest plan is a floating offshore wind port by the Maine Department of Transportation that has so far failed to attract federal funding. Local conservationists support the proposal and said the highest and best use of the island is as a wild area. But opponents including state agencies, environmental groups and labor unions, argue it would be a mistake to give up the commercial parcel on Sears Island.