The proposed Maine North Woods National Monument includes some 186,000 acres of mostly clear-cut and a river that runs through it. As proposed, it would abut Baxter State Park.
Roxanne Quimby has offered to donate thousands of acres of land and a bundle of money to the proposed park, but Quimby will not let the public use that land for hunting, fishing or snowmobiling if it becomes a national monument. That sentiment doesn’t sit well with locals, who have been using those lands for years and years.
I have read stories about how the proposed park would create thousands of jobs, but they would be only seasonal and not life-supporting.
I believe that those who support the idea of a monument are businesses — they would be the ones to reap the harvest. The majority of local people are being ignored.
Jean Arsenault, Mexico
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