Among the speakers at the recent dedication of the Schoodic Woods Campground was Sen. Angus King, who intended to spend the night there in his well-traveled RV.
The new campground, complete with bike and foot trails, will take some of the pressure off Mount Desert Island, where traffic and cruise ship visitors tend to overload the roads and facilities. It will also enhance the economy of an area that does not usually see the visitors who flock to Bar Harbor.
The land for the campground was donated, so it came at no additional expense to taxpayers.
Another large tract of land farther north is being offered as a potential park. Elliotsville Plantation Inc. will donate its land to the east of Baxter State Park and will also create an endowment fund for park operations.
As paper mills have shut down, jobs have disappeared and towns are shrinking in that part of the state. A north woods national park or recreation area would attract a good portion of visitors from around the country and Maine itself, creating new jobs and boosting the regional and state economies.
As plans are underway to celebrate the centennial of Acadia National Park next year, wouldn’t it be great if Sens. Susan Collins and King were to introduce legislation in Congress that would create another jewel in the National Park System?
Acadia was created largely from donations of private land. Now that is happening in Schoodic. Maybe we could see it happen again up by Katahdin.
Edward Walworth, Lewiston
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