The Fight for a New National Park in Maine

Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Roxanne Quimby (AP Photo)
With the help of millionaire Roxanne Quimby, conservationists want to establish a new national park in Maine to commemorate the upcoming 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
 
Quimby made a fortune developing the Burt’s Bees line of personal care products, which she sold to Clorox in 2007 for $925 million. Now she wants to donate 70,000 acres of land she owns in Central Maine, near Baxter State Park, to create the national park by 2016. But the movement is being opposed by snowmobilers who would be banned from their recreational pursuits in the proposed park area.
 
In an attempt to win the support of the Maine Snowmobile Association for a national park feasibility study, Quimby has offered five years of access to snowmobile trails on other parts of her property.
 
Snowmobiling is more than sport for Maine. The activity generates revenue for local communities that provide food and lodging to visitors who enjoy the activity in the wintertime. However, creating and operating a national park would also create jobs.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
 
Is The Time Right For A "Maine Woods National Park"? (by Kurt Repanshek, National Parks Traveler)

Comments

Preserve Maine Traditions 12 years ago
here in maine, a group of concerned 'no park' citizens has launched a website in an effort to try to educated the public about what will really happen should a second national park come to maine - the website is - http://preservemainetraditions.com/ there is a petition there as well if you would care to sign. thanks -
ewv 12 years ago
the big park pressure groups have been pushing this scheme attacking private property in maine since it was first contrived and promoted from washington dc in the 1980s. it has been systematically rejected ever since, not just by snowmobilers. this is not new. maines' governor and us senators are opposed to it and the state legislature just overwhelmingly passed a resolution directed at the obama administration to stay out because of quimby's washington insider connections and promotions. a federal park takeover does not provide "jobs" replacing the productive industry the pressure groups want to destroy and rational people do not want to put up with the civil rights restrictions from federal control. there have been more than enough problems with that, including eminent domain, at acadia, the appalachian trail and the "national landmarks" scam.

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