Maine § 12708. - Wildlife management areas and public access sites

Full text of Maine Maine Revised Statutes § 12708. — Wildlife management areas and public access sites, with citation guidance and answers to common questions.

§ 12708.. Wildlife management areas and public access sites

1. Designation and classification of wildlife management areas. The following areas are classified as wildlife management areas.

A. The following described territories are classified as wildlife management areas to be managed by the commissioner in accordance with the principles of wildlife management, as defined in section 10001, subsection 73, and subject to the commissioner's authority under section 12701:

(1) Bartlett's Island in Hancock County;

(2) Colby College Area: The Mayflower Hill Campus of Colby College comprising approximately 640 acres of land. It is located west of the center of Waterville bounded in general as follows:

From a stone marker on the west bank of Messalonskee Stream, said marker located across the stream from a point approximately 400 feet north of Riverview Avenue. Runs north along bank of Messalonskee Stream to a point approximately 2,000 feet north of Cedar Bridge (North Street), thence in a northeasterly direction to a cement marker on the Second Rangeway at a point approximately 900 feet northeast of intersection with Rice Rips Road, thence in a southwesterly direction to Rice Rips Road, thence east approximately 300 feet, thence southwesterly again approximately parallel to and west of the Second Rangeway for approximately 1,800 feet to a cement marker, thence easterly to the Second Rangeway, thence in a southerly direction on east side of Second Rangeway for approximately 1,900 feet to a cement marker and college sign; thence southeast approximately 5,400 feet to Mt. Merici property line post and cement marker; thence in easterly direction to and across Mayflower Hill Drive in offset manner (east offset marked with stone or cement marker post) to and across Maine Central railroad to the point of beginning on west bank of Messalonskee Stream;

(3) Deer Isle and Stonington: The Towns of Deer Isle and Stonington, Hancock County;

(6) Lowell E. Barnes Wildlife Management Area: Certain lots or parcels of land situated in Hiram, County of Oxford, State of Maine, bounded and described as follows:

(a) A parcel of land containing 700 acres more or less bounded northerly by land now or formerly of Lusanna Hubbard, Lemuel Cotton and M.L. Wardsworth; easterly by land now or formerly of James Edgecomb; southerly by land now or formerly owned or occupied by Llewellyn A. Wardsworth, Asbury Huntress and Orison Adams; and westerly by land now or formerly of James Ayer, Harrison Sanburn, James Ayer again, the George F. Brooks place, so called, being the lot next below described and land now or formerly of Fred Small, Seth Spring and Freeman Flye;

(b) A parcel of land containing 25 acres, more or less, situated westerly of the above described lot and known as the George F. Brooks place; and

(c) A parcel of land containing 70 acres, more or less, situated adjacent to the first parcel above described and bounded north, east and west by said first above described parcel and southerly by land now or formerly of James Ayer and Elmer Hodgdon. Said parcel is known as the Dennis Stanley place;

(7) Marsh Island: Marsh Island in Penobscot County; and

(8) Oak Grove: The campus and land of Oak Grove School, in the Town of Vassalboro, County of Kennebec, situated on the east side of Route No. 100; and all the land of said school situated on the west side of Route No. 100. Sebago Lake Basin Wildlife Management Area: All that portion of Sebago Lake commonly known as Sebago Lake Basin lying below the high water mark in the Towns of Standish and Windham. [PL 2005, c. 477, §21 (AMD).]

B. The following areas are classified as state-owned wildlife management areas, or "WMAs":

(1) Blanchard/AuClair WMA (Roach River Corridor) - T1 R14 WELS - Piscataquis County;

(2) Major Gregory Sanborn WMA - Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg - Oxford County;

(3) George Bucknam WMA (Belgrade Stream) - Mt. Vernon - Kennebec County;

(4) Caesar Pond WMA - Bowdoin - Sagadahoc County;

(4-A) Caribou Stream WMA - Washburn, Woodland - Aroostook County;

(5) Chesterville WMA - Chesterville - Franklin County;

(6) Alan E. Hutchinson WMA - all state-owned coastal islands that are owned or managed by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife;

(7) Dickwood Lake WMA - Eagle Lake - Aroostook County;

(8) Francis D. Dunn WMA (Sawtelle Deadwater) - T6 R7 WELS - Penobscot County;

(9) Fahi Pond WMA - Embden - Somerset County;

(10) Lyle Frost WMA (formerly Scammon) - Eastbrook, Franklin - Hancock County;

(11) Alonzo H. Garcelon WMA (Mud Mill Flowage) - Augusta, Windsor, Vassalboro, China - Kennebec County;

(12) Great Works WMA - Edmunds Township - Washington County;

(13) Jamies Pond WMA - Manchester, Farmingdale, Hallowell - Kennebec County;

(14) Jonesboro WMA - Jonesboro - Washington County;

(15) Earle R. Kelley WMA (Dresden Bog) - Alna, Dresden - Lincoln County;

(16) Kennebunk Plains WMA - Kennebunk - York County;

(17) Bud Leavitt WMA (Bull Hill) - Atkinson, Charleston, Dover-Foxcroft, Garland - Penobscot County and Piscataquis County;

(18) Gene Letourneau WMA (Frye Mountain) - Montville, Knox, Morrill - Waldo County;

(18-A) Lexington WMA - Lexington Township - Somerset County;

(19) Long Lake WMA - St. Agatha - Aroostook County (all of Long Lake within the Town of St. Agatha);

(19-A) Macwahoc WMA - Upper Molunkus Township, North Yarmouth Academy Grant Township (T1 R4 WELS) - Aroostook County;

(20) Madawaska WMA - Palmyra - Somerset County;

(20-A) Maine Youth Conservation WMA - T32MD - Hancock County;

(21) Mainstream WMA - Cambridge, Ripley - Somerset County;

(22) Lt. Gordon Manuel WMA - Hodgdon, Cary Township, Linneus - Aroostook County;

(23) Maynard F. Marsh WMA (Killick Pond) - Hollis, Limington - York County;

(24) Mercer Bog WMA - Mercer - Somerset County;

(25) Merrymeeting Bay WMA - Dresden, Bowdoinham, Woolwich, Bath, Topsham - Lincoln County and Sagadahoc County;

(26) Morgan Meadow WMA - Raymond - Cumberland County;

(27) Mt. Agamenticus WMA - York, South Berwick - York County;

(28) Muddy River WMA - Topsham - Sagadahoc County;

(29) Narraguagus Junction WMA - Cherryfield - Washington County;

(30) Old Pond Farm WMA - Maxfield, Howland - Penobscot County;

(31) Orange River WMA - Whiting - Washington County;

(32) Peaks Island WMA - Portland - Cumberland County;

(33) Pennamaquam WMA - Pembroke, Charlotte - Washington County;

(34) Steve Powell WMA - Perkins Township - Sagadahoc County (being the islands in the Kennebec River near Richmond known as Swan Island and Little Swan Island, formerly known as Alexander Islands);

(35) David Priest WMA (Dwinal Pond) - Lee, Winn - Penobscot County;

(35-A) Rangeley WMA - Rangeley - Franklin County;

(36) James Dorso Ruffingham Meadow WMA - Montville, Searsmont - Waldo County;

(37) St. Albans WMA - St. Albans - Somerset County;

(38) Sandy Point WMA - Stockton Springs - Waldo County;

(39) Scarborough WMA - Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, Saco - Cumberland County and York County;

(40) Steep Falls WMA - Standish, Baldwin - Cumberland County;

(41) Tyler Pond WMA - Manchester, Augusta - Kennebec County;

(42) Vernon S. Walker WMA - Newfield, Shapleigh - York County;

(43) R. Waldo Tyler Weskeag Marsh WMA - South Thomaston, Thomaston, Rockland, Owl's Head, Friendship - Knox County;

(43-A) Kennebec River Estuary WMA - Arrowsic, Bath, Georgetown, Phippsburg, West Bath, Woolwich - Sagadahoc County;

(43-B) Tolla Wolla WMA - Livermore - Androscoggin County;

(43-C) Green Point WMA - Dresden - Lincoln County;

(43-D) Hurds Pond WMA - Swanville - Waldo County;

(43-E) Sherman Lake WMA - Newcastle, Damariscotta - Lincoln County;

(43-F) Ducktrap River WMA - Belmont, Lincolnville - Waldo County;

(45) Stump Pond WMA - New Vineyard - Franklin County;

(47) Cobscook Bay WMA - Lubec, Pembroke, Perry, Trescott Township - Washington County;

(48) Mattawamkeag River System WMA - Drew Plantation, Kingman Township, Prentiss Township, Webster Township - Penobscot County;

(49) Booming Ground WMA - Forest City - Washington County;

(50) Butler Island WMA - Ashland - Aroostook County;

(51) Pollard Flat WMA - Masardis - Aroostook County;

(52) Caribou Bog WMA - Old Town, Orono - Penobscot County;

(53) Delano WMA - Monson - Piscataquis County;

(54) Egypt Bay WMA - Hancock - Hancock County;

(55) Spring Brook WMA - Hancock - Hancock County;

(56) Strong WMA - Strong - Franklin County;

(57) Plymouth Bog WMA - Plymouth, Detroit, Burnham - Penobscot County, Somerset County and Waldo County;

(58) Such other areas as the commissioner designates, by rules adopted in accordance with section 12701, as state-owned wildlife management areas; and

(59) Pleasant Bay WMA - Addison - Washington County. [PL 2025, c. 132, §§8-12 (AMD).]

2. The Public Boat Launch Access Program. The Public Boat Launch Access Program, referred to in this subsection as the "program," is established in the department. The purpose of the program is to provide anglers, boaters and other persons fair and equitable public access to public waters that offer recreational fishing opportunities by acquiring lands adjacent to those waters and providing appropriate opportunities to access those waters. The commissioner may establish program priorities based on fishery management or other resource management objectives and may use for these purposes any funds received through federal programs intended to aid in the restoration of sport fishing and other revenues available for providing access to public waters.

Source: official Maine text · Last verified 2026-08-27

Frequently Asked Questions About Maine § 12708.

What does Maine Revised Statutes § 12708. cover?

Section 12708. ("Wildlife management areas and public access sites") is part of the Maine Revised Statutes, the codified statutory law of Maine. It sets out the legal rule or procedure described in the text above. Statutes are amended regularly, so always verify against the official source.

How do I cite Maine § 12708.?

A common citation format is "Maine Revised Statutes § 12708." (Maine). Legal writing may require the code abbreviation, section number, and year or edition. Match the style required by your court, professor, or publisher.

Is this the official text of Maine law?

No. This page is for research and education and may not include the most recent amendments. For official current law, check the Maine official source linked on this page or consult a licensed Maine attorney.

How does Maine § 12708. apply to my situation?

Statutes are interpreted in context, and application depends on your specific facts. Only a licensed attorney in Maine can advise on how this section applies to you. Contact your state or local bar association for a referral.

Sources & Verification

Official text of § 12708. at the Maine source

Not legal advice. Verify against the official source and consult a licensed attorney in Maine.