Katahdin
Advocates who want to create a new national park in Maine’s North Woods are pushing a new revamped, smaller proposal, and they’re seeking the support of the state’s federal delegation.
In late 2012, in the face of stiff local resistance, family representatives for Burt’s Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby announced they were withdrawing a proposal to create a national park adjacent to Maine’s Baxter State Park. While they said they still wanted a national park in northern Maine, they said they were stepping back to seek more input and come up with a better plan.
Now that plan appears to be a smaller park proposal spearheaded by Katahdin-area leaders.
According to a recent article in the Bangor Daily News, a mix of Katahdin-region business owners and local leaders are pitching the idea of a 150,000-acre North Woods national park to the state’s federal representatives. They recently sent a letter to Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, and Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, asking them to take a new look at the proposal.
The plans for a national park in Maine’s North Woods has taken many different shapes over the years, including plans that had it as large as 3.2-million acres. But according to the letter, advocates say the old plans were “too big and unrealistic.”
According to the Natural Resources Council of Maine, which supports what it is calling the Katahdin Woods & Waters National Park and National Recreation Area, the park would look like a tall rectangle abutting the eastern border of Baxter State Park. The east branch of the Penobscot River divides the land diagonally from the northwest corner to the southeast corner.
Read about advocates seeking support for new plans for a national park in Maine’s North Woods.