By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — The first hearing on Wednesday on a bill that would effectively bar national monuments from Maine featured 2½ hours of far-ranging debate over the future of the state’s northern woodlands and many of its industries. The testimony heard by the Legislature’s Read More
Katahdin region
Fall: East Branch of the Penobscot River, Day 2, Part 2, Third Lake
Third Lake was breathtakingly beautiful. We pushed off into the inlet, and after only a minute or two of paddling turned the corner to see the lake view unfold in front of us. Unlike Fourth Lake, I couldn’t see the bottom of Third Lake. Much of its banks were rocky, or rose as huge boulders. Read More
Chasing the Dream: A Vacation on the Proposed National Park Lands
Despite a nearly snowless winter, I took advantage of a small window of opportunity to ski the Katahdin Woods and Water Recreation Areas (KWW) with family and friends last week. In fact, our window was so tight, we skied well-groomed trails one day and waded through a massive rain puddle the next. Under any conditions, Read More
Nahmakanta Dreams
I first explored the Nahmakanta Public Reserved Land Unit, located southwest of Baxter State Park, while guiding a 10-day wilderness canoe and work experience for disadvantaged youth about 20 years ago. Together, four guides and eight kids spent a little less than a week constructing trails throughout the Nahmakanta Unit and then paddled the St. Read More
National Park Service Opens Door to Dialogue
The negative reaction by Gov. LePage and members of Congress is the wrong response. By The Editorial Board Portland Press Herald editorial National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis should be applauded for the open-minded and constructive letter he sent to three members of Maine’s congressional delegation. Instead Maine officials are acting as if he threatened Read More
King, Collins Should Back North Woods Park Plan
By Marian McCue, Portland resident and former editor and publisher of The Forecaster The Forecaster op-ed Among the latest volleys in the fusillade hurled by Gov. Paul LePage last week was a vow to build a road through land proposed for a new national park in northern Maine. The land is owned by Roxanne Quimby, who Read More
Forest Products Industry Shouldn’t Get Louder Say Than Mainers on National Park
By David Fogg, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed I have lived in Mattawamkeag my entire life, and for many years I’ve watched the development of the proposal for a national park next to Baxter State Park. It’s past time for action on this idea. The paper industry is gone. I know this Read More
A Mountain Biking Trip to KWW for All Skill Levels
I recently had the opportunity, as a member of the NRCM Rising Leadership Team, to visit the proposed National Park property East of Baxter for the first time. I excitedly accepted, and am so glad I did!
The Case for a Katahdin Woods National Monument
By Edgar Allen Beem The Forecaster column Just in time for the centennial of the National Park Service and the final year of the Obama administration, philanthropist Roxanne Quimby and her family are seeking national monument status for the land east of Baxter State park they have been assembling in hopes of it becoming a Read More