Coalition-asks-family-behind-national-park-in-katahdin-to-abandon-plan
http://wabi.tv/2015/07/15/coalition-...-abandon-plan/
Lots of objectors to this idea.
Everyone has a photographic memory. Not everyone has film.
Change is never easy, and looking generations ahead is something that is even harder.Originally Posted by Old Hillwalker
That said, my first and only post to this thread is mostly because I feel compelled to say that when in doubt it's always good to support a thru-hiker, a thru hiker's brother, and a couple of thru hikers' mother.
Especially in this case.
Alternate headline: "Whiny parochial locals with severe case of NIMBYism oppose national park." Yawn. Who cares.
This is my first and only post to this thread. Mostly because it would be wise for this native to keep silent on the matter.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln
Wow. Just wow. If the land belongs to Mrs. Quimby and Mr. St. Clair, then isn't it theirs to sell or donate as they wish? This is a local saying, in effect, "If you give this land away rather than selling it to International Paper, then I won't have a job logging it at some time in the future." Well, boo-hoo.
If you're a leftie who believes in wilderness, you'd surely rather have a park there.
If you're a rightie who believes in propery rights, you'd surely rather let the landowners decide how their property will be disposed of.
I always know where I am. I'm right here.
It was purchased from the Paper companies who had a long history of sharing the land with hunters, snowmobilers, fisherman and hikers. It was a relationship built on mutual supporting values and vision for the land. This was land that was shared with everyone in Maine for generations. The first thing that Roxanne Quimby did was lock all access to the property, including locking out people how had leased hunting/logging camps from the paper company, to create her own vision of what she and she alone thought the land should be used as. There are many bitter feelings and resentment towards her. People in that area absolutely despise her.
OK, clearly I'm ignorant of the history here.
Still, a conveyance to the government might be an improvement overall. It makes the land use moving forward subject to the political process, ugly as that is, rather than the whims of a single landowner.
I'm thinking of people who are still bitter about the A-T easements. This barn is still there along the corridor.
0501300045 by steelmf, on Flickr
I always know where I am. I'm right here.
As with all things there is very likely another side to this tale which caused the lands to be closed off. Poor stewardship of those using the land itself may very well have been the cause for example, there could be a hundred reasons that advanced the closing. It could also be the purchasers had a vision of pristine lands and did not want it despoiled. Its their land, they should be allowed to do with it as they see fit so long as it does not have heavy impact on the community as heavy industry might.
People said much the same about Rockefeller donating Acadia, and when the Tetons were made a national park. Those who are miffed and "despise" those folks should perhaps consider purchasing land they can use as their vision allows. Being upset for someone closing off their land they use without cost is an argument without a lot of merit.
Oh geez, I can only imagine there will be some new rules for thru hikers to follow, and from the whining and moaning I had to hear all the way through the Smokies (as if the ridge runners were forcing people to follow by gunpoint) I would bet there will be a lot of pissed off thru hikers.
76 HawkMtn w/Rangers
14 LHHT
15 Girard/Quebec/LostTurkey/Saylor/Tuscarora/BlackForest
16 Kennerdell/Cranberry-Otter/DollyS/WRim-NCT
17 BearR
18-19,22 AT NOBO 1562.2
22 Hadrian's Wall
23 Cotswold Way
I would actually like to see the land donated to BSP as a multi use area. Allow some logging, open it up to fishermen, hunters, hikers and snowmobilers, like it was before Roxanne purchased it. But a national park? Not really. The US Park service has a poor record of stewardship in their current parks. Too large a bureaucracy with decisions made far from the local population without having any input into what would affect the locals. Part of the reason why there are so many "No Park" signs in that area. National Park service won't accept a park in that area unless the locals buy into the project, and from what I can see, that is not going to happen anytime soon.
There is plenty of conserved land in the region, far more than people expect. The major objection is that it would bring the Fed into the picture. The locals in the region have long memories and there was long history of abuse by the feds of the locals at Moosehorn National Refuge in the past that "poisoned the locals opinion". The reality is that this would be a nice addition to BSP and the management of BSP is very close to what the donor wants the fed to implement. Unfortunately, the donor wants her name associated with the creation of a National Park so adding it to BSP is not acceptable. Quimby also had stated previously that she was a supported of much larger 5 million acre Maine Woods National Park Proposal in the region and that her effort was intended to kick start it . She managed to piss off the locals for a few years until she finally figured out that she is the worse spokesperson for the park. Her son now is the face of the campaign and he is a lot less controversial and has mended some but not all fences.
An interesting point is that the proposed access to the NP is actually one exit north of Medway at Sherman Mills which is southern border of Maine's potato industry. Logically if there is tourism development in the area it will be at Sherman Mills exit rather than the Medway exit that accesses the Millinocket area.
For anyone interesting in visiting the area, there are developed campgrounds and hiking trails already in place. Of course there is zero access to BSP as it most likely will be in the future. Sort of like routing the AT within sight of the Franconia and Presidential ridges rather than over them with no option to climb them.
There is also the issue of Public Reserved Lands within the unorganized townships. The paper companies have always treated those lands as if they own them, but they were set aside for the people of Maine. Roxanne Quimby doesn't own all the land she thinks she does. 10% of that land is Public Reserve Land. It can't be purchased or sold since it belongs to the Maine people.
This has nothing to do with thru hikers.
KK4VKZ -SOTA-SUMMITS ON THE AIR-
SUPPORT LNT
Hillwalker on this site could tell everyone a story about public reserved lands.
The originally proposed IAT route that pissed BSP off may have gone through this area but when the park objected, it was moved south to its current location at the Park Boundary.
The GF and I was wondering why the IAT terminated at Katahdin Lake and not at the Summit of Baxter, which is the logical place for it to start/end.
OK, I have to break my promise about the one post for this thread.
Not to get too nostalgic, but the mention of Maine's Public Reserve Lands makes me really miss reading posts from old-time White Blaze member "Weary" AKA Bob Cummings, and ponder his amazing work as a reporter discovering all that land along the AT that had been long been forgotten-- not to mention all his other contributions.
Some lively discussions too!
I know nothing of the topic, so a quick Google search brought up this article -- https://bangordailynews.com/2015/06/...=moreInopinion
Whatever happened to Weary? I have missed his posts as well.
igne et ferrum est potentas
"In the beginning, all America was Virginia." -William Byrd
That link talked about the big increase in logging, but it doesn't really explain why. I believe the big increase is in part due mostly to the rapidly growing wood pellet industry, not just in Maine, but elsewhere, but especially in Europe, since they consider it a green energy source. And here's an article that talks about some in Maine eyeing the rapidly growing demand in Europe for wood pellets http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/maine...arket/20341630
For a little background on the rapidly growing wood pellet industry (which unfortunately doesn't get enough coverage in the media) here's a great article that explains it and after reading it you'll see that it's NOT really a green energy source. http://www.economist.com/news/busine...pe-fuel-future
I don't really get the historical significance in the state of Maine on the Quimby issue, but I do know it's not the pressing issue. The real issue that needs attention is the surge in logging.
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