BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 9, 2025
Maine lawmakers have killed a piece of legislation that would have expanded a conservation easement that now protects two-thirds of Sears Island. The bill would have protected the entirety of the island from development, but the Maine Senate rejected it in a 24-9 vote on Tuesday, after the House of Representatives opposed it 76-68 one week earlier. Currently, about 600 acres of the state-owned Sears Island are now legally protected under a conservation easement that was first approved in 2009, while the remaining 330 acres can be developed for transportation reasons. State officials have pursued a range of development projects on that third of the island over the years, including an ongoing effort to build a port facility for a future offshore wind industry.