“I look forward to people coming and exploring landscape on their own, and I look forward to these communities that have been really struggling starting to realize some of the economic benefits that national parks can bring”, St. Clair said.
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The Monument abuts Baxter State Park and is a popular destination for hiking, canoeing, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.
“Some locals, including Maine’s timber industry, and the Sportsman’s Alliance object to federal control of the land, and Maine’s Congressional delegation refused to back legislation to make the area a national park”, NPR’s Scott Horsley reports. Artists, authors, scientists, conservationists and others – including Teddy Roosevelt, Henry David Thoreau and John James Audubon – have also drawn knowledge and inspiration from the area’s resources.
There should be no shortage of Moose at Maine’s newest national monument in the North Woods. Quimby’s family has been lobbying President Barack Obama to grant the land monument status, a move that can be a stepping stone to national park status.
When historians look back on August 24, 2016, what will they say about the decision to take 87,000 acres of land in the heart of Maine’s northern forest out of production and turn it into a national monument? Angus King, Republican U.S. Sen.
With the creation of this monument, snowmobile trails east of the East Branch will be guaranteed forever, along with hunting on those lands where it’s now allowed.
The dispute over the role of the federal government in land management has spread nationwide, and in ME many locals opposed the designation on principle. In 2015, Acadia National Park attracted close to 3 million visitors, who spent an estimated $247.9 million in local communities.
When Quimby began buying up land from the downsizing paper companies, there was serious kickback amongst residents and businesses.
ME is also home to Acadia National Park, which at 47,000 acres is slightly more than half the size of the newly designated monument.
Republican Gov. Paul LePage actively opposed the proposal, calling it an “ego play”, and characterized key supporters as “out-of-state liberals”.
“Many parks over the history of the park system have been criticized upon creation”, St. Clair told The Associated Press.
There probably will never be another large national park created in the eastern half of the country. Their gift of land is accompanied by an endowment of $20 million to supplement federal funds for initial park operational needs and infrastructure development at the new monument, and a pledge of another $20 million in future philanthropic support.
The creation of the Katahdin Woods and Waters comes as the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary.
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FILE – In this March 14, 2011 file photo, Roxanne Quimby, the founder of Burt’s Bees, poses in front of a 180-year-old map of Maine at her home in Portland, Maine.
