by Erica Stapleton
WABI-TV news story
Planning is in the works for a new National Park in Maine’s north woods.
A land owner is proposing to donate one hundred thousand acres of land for a new national park and recreation area.
It would be on the east side of Baxter State Park, along the Penobscot River.
The new park could bring economic benefits like added tourism through smaller towns in the Katahdin region, but people have concerns about industry competition.
“The park is actually relatively small in comparison to Maine’s north woods and there’s a lot of opportunity for both vibrant wood products industry and a national park,” says Cathy Johnson, North Woods Project Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “So we’re encouraging people to see that this is not a competitive thing but in fact, the region can have both a national park and a paper industry.”
The Natural Resources Council of Maine hopes the park will be created by 2016 for the 100th Birthday of the national park systems.
For more information on how to make that happen, visit nrcm.org.
