Yesterday's Bangor Daily had an article about Roxanne Quimby's plans to dedicate over 70,000 acres (twice the size of Maine's Acadia National Park) to the east of Baxter State park to the National Park Service and set aside another 30,000 (about 8,000 acres larger than our very own Deboullie Township) for traditional recreational uses.
I've been watching the whole debate with interest. All of the plans I've seen for a national park are well to the south of Deboullie (see below), but a plan on paper is just that. While a national park up in our neck of the woods could be great for Red River's business and could ensure that we never have to fear a Deboullie Wal-Mart, it would be devastating for the area if traditional recreational uses were disallowed or if a national park would invite too much use to the region. I've seen several people call for a national forest (instead of a national park) if anything. By all accounts, a national forest would be friendlier to hunting and logging.
Another piece to this puzzle that I haven't seen in the news much, however, is John Malone's plan to purchase over 900,000 acres in Maine. The deal was supposedly finalized on February 1st, but I can't find anything about it. The sale would make him the largest landowner in the United States and give him ownership of approximately 5% of the entire land mass of the state. That's a lot of land. Malone also owns land out west, and by all accounts, he likes to see it remain in historic uses. Around here, that's recreation and logging. If anyone knows of a map, I'd love to see it.
A few resources on both sides if you're interested in this topic:
The Maine Woods Coalition
Restore: The North Woods (which doesn't appear to be updated past 2008)
A Yankee Magazine article from January/February 2010 (Warning: it's pretty long)
A .pdf of today's Bangor Daily story about Roxanne Quimby's plan
A .pdf of January 30th's Portland Press Herald story about John Malone's plan
So much for "short posts between now and May"! There have been quite a few pieces of woods-related news this week; I'll try to get to them all over the next several days.
Jen, I had this information for the Museum. Mom
ReplyDeleteTop 10 Landowners in Maine
1. Irving Family 1.2 Million Acres
2. John Malone 1+ Million Acres
3. Plum Creek 929,000 Acres
4. Pingree Heirs 830,000 Acres
5. Prentiss & Carlisle 748,000 Acres
6. Me. Dept. Conservation 600,000 Acres
7. Bayroot Timber 471,000 Acres
8. Typhoon LLC 402,000 Acres
9. Merriweather 284,000 Acres
10. The Forestland Group 235,229 Acres
Source: Maine Department of Conservation, Land Report
By The Numbers:
Football Field about 1 Acre
Roxanne Quimby 120,000 Acres
Baxter State Park 210,000 Acres
John Malone 1 Million Acres
State of Maine 22,646 Million Acres
Us people who have lived here in Northern Maine all our lives, like our life just as it is. This state needs to tell people from away to leave our live style alone, all we want is to be able to continue to live, work, and enjoy what we have. No more land scoffed up by the rich, to protect it and our way of life. Sure let them buy land but no more landtrust let them pay taxes and then maybe life in northern Maine will continue to be good. Protect my way of life and lifestyle please.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree leave it the way it is. It will never be the same wether a National Forest or Park. Life in the woods as you know it now will never be the same. Remember when you could canoe the Allagash and camp wherever you wanted!! And what happened there?
ReplyDeleteDave Davis
I remember the "good old days" too. When the water was polluted and clear cuts extended down to the water's edge. I want to hunt and fish in the Northwoods, but not at the expense of the woods themselves. I'm not sure a park is the answer, but I support some form of conservation over further subdivision.
ReplyDeleteGeoff Wingard
What about a national monument? its not at the same level as a park, but it confers permanent protection. frankly i think ALL of the north woods 10 million acres should be set aside, the RESTORE groups proposal doesn't go far enough. for those who ask, what is its distinguishing feature? Its size and the fact that its the largest intact woodland east of the Mississippi. it would be the largest monument in the lower 48, and could be modeled on Andirondack Park in New York State which covers 6.1 million acres. most national monuments and parks contain some private or state land, and I'm sure some activities could be grandfathered in, like snowmobiling, or hunting, or other recreational uses. The land is unincorporated as it currently is, and when the feds buy lands from the states the states receive money for it. rather than competing with Acadia, it would be another reason to visit Maine. 'come for Acadia, stay for the North Woods' history shows that folks eventually accept having a monument or park nearby. when Carter used the AA in 78 in Alaska , there was a lot of biatching and moaning, but if you ask the folks now, they're glad that he did that. same deal here. there will be complaining abut jobs losses and overreach and socialism, but in 10 years the opponents will be taking credit for it and in 20 years the area will likely be one of the jewels of the park system.
ReplyDelete