The Maine Forest Service will accept public comment until noon on Monday, Nov. 16, on a proposal to remove water-quality standards from its Chapter 27 timber harvesting rule for the state's unorganized and deorganized areas. The agency says the standards duplicate a separate shoreland rule that now applies there.

The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry posts the proposal with a fact sheet that classifies it as a major substantive amendment of an existing rule. A public hearing was scheduled for Nov. 2 at 10:30 a.m. in the Deering Building in Augusta. The agency contact is Morten Moesswilde, at 207-592-2239 or morten.moesswilde@maine.gov.

Why the agency wants the change

Chapter 27 has set standards since 2013 for timber harvesting in the unorganized and deorganized territories, and landowners, licensed foresters and loggers consult it when planning harvests. A statewide shoreland rule, Chapter 21, applies in those areas once the commissioner finds that at least 252 of 336 high-harvest municipalities have accepted the statewide standards or adopted identical ordinances. According to the department, the commissioner made that finding in May 2024, and the Chapter 21 standards took effect in the unorganized territories in January 2026.

The proposed amendments delete the water-quality standards from Chapter 27 because Chapter 21 now addresses them, the department's fact sheet says. Chapter 27 as amended would keep a narrower set of standards on gravel extraction and on harvesting in protected areas unrelated to water resources, such as mountain areas and recreation zones.

What the department says changes

The fact sheet describes the amendments as almost entirely deletions and minor corrections that do not add or increase standards. It lists the estimated fiscal impact as none. The agency said it consulted Maine Land Use Planning Commission staff and its own professional foresters, and reviewed the original 2013 rule and its basis statement.

The posting includes a fact sheet, a redline of the proposed changes and a clean draft of the rule.