At least there is still snowmobiling allowed on some of the land.
 

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By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama signed into law the creation of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument on Wednesday, a day after landowner Roxanne Quimby transferred 87,563 acres of her property in Maine to the federal government.

The executive order states that the Department of the Interior will manage the property through the National Park Service, in line with Quimby’s stated requirements. It allows “hunting by the public on the parcels east of the East Branch of the Penobscot River” plus snowmobiling and orders that a management plan be created, “with full public involvement,” in three years. Public meetings are due to start by Sept. 12.

It praises the Quimby lands as being rich in culture, natural beauty and “significant biodiversity.” Describing the view the land affords as awe-inspiring, the order recites a history familiar to most Mainers including the visits of Henry David Thoreau, Theodore Roosevelt and John James Audubon of Audubon Society fame.

“Since the glaciers retreated 12,000 years ago, these waterways and associated resources — the scenery, geology, flora and fauna, night skies, and more — have attracted people to this area,” the nine-page executive order states. “Native Americans still cherish these resources. Lumberjacks, river drivers and timber owners have earned their livings here. Artists, authors, scientists, conservationists, recreationists, and others have drawn knowledge and inspiration from this landscape.”

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The executive order also cites as one of the land’s greatest features something monument opponents will find ironic: Its proximity to Baxter State Park and view of Mount Katahdin. Monument foes derided the land as being essentially valueless by itself without that viewshed.

“This post-glacial topography is studded with attractive small mountains, including some like Deasey, Lunksoos, and Barnard, that offer spectacular views of Mount Katahdin,” the order states. “Katahdin Woods and Waters abuts much of Baxter State Park’s eastern boundary, extending the conservation landscape through shared mountains, streams, corridors for plants and animals, and other natural systems.”

The announcement of the signing was released by the White House at 10:30 a.m. It is the 25th executive order Obama has issued to create a monument since 2011. The monument is the nation’s 151st since 1906, according to a National Park Service listing. Of the nation’s 58 national parks, 36 began as monuments, including Acadia National Park.

Only Congress can create national parks, but presidents, under the American Antiquities Act of 1906, can create monuments simply by writing an order. Officials running the monument’s neighbor, Baxter State Park, posted a notice on social media on Wednesday morning in anticipation of the decree.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with our new neighbor, the Department of the Interior. Baxter Park has 100 miles of boundary and we share this boundary with around a dozen different landowners,” the statement reads. “We seek to have a good working relationship with all our neighbors and we look forward to doing the same with our newest one.”

Located east of Baxter, the monument is expected to increase employment in the Katahdin region, where two paper mills have shuttered since 2008. The closures represent a direct loss of approximately 430 manufacturing jobs. The last mill, in East Millinocket, closed in 2014.

Quimby’s dream, as she said when she launched her campaign in 2011, was to achieve a kind of parity with Gov. Percival Baxter by donating land to the National Park Service in 2016 — her gift to the nation that helped make her a millionaire. She began buying land in 2001.

The order describes the land as a “$100 million gift” and includes Quimby’s promised $20 million donation “for initial park operational needs and infrastructure development” and a pledge for another $20 million in fundraising.

Penobscot County Registry of Deeds officials confirmed Tuesday the 13 deeds passing 87,563 acres from Quimby’s company, Elliotsville Plantation Inc., to what was listed simply as “The United States of America.”

The total acreage is nearly twice the size of Maine’s Acadia National Park.

 

 

At least for the three years  

45 minutes ago, ckf said:

At least there is still snowmobiling allowed on some of the land.
 

 

I expect this area will be off limits to sleds in the future.

3 hours ago, oquossocbob said:

I expect this area will be off limits to sleds in the future.

Why is that?  Was the MSA involved in any of the discussions?

18 minutes ago, ckf said:

Why is that?  Was the MSA involved in any of the discussions?

The MSA was involved and totally against it. My guess there will be a 3 year window with limited sled access. After that it's done. That's my opinion

This has been a pretty hot topic over on HCS for some time.  I get it...it sucks...another liberal nut bag fucking with our choices of leisure.  HOWEVER...it's her land and if she wants to donate it to the government and public with her own caveats attached, so be it.  Nothing any of us can do about it.  Fact is, she is doing something well...I'll say "good" for the future of the land.  Whatever kind of benefit she gets from it is well...moot.  Again..her shit, she can donate it any way she wants.  And it would appear that for the next three years there will be limited access at least.  That means the people/organizations that want to use that land after that had better start to make a good case for their side over the next three years.  $20 says we all fuck it up for ourselves.  After all, fuck her and her land right?  And that is exactly what she is probably counting on.  We can all be our own worst enemy sometimes.

6 minutes ago, oquossocbob said:

The MSA was involved and totally against it. My guess there will be a 3 year window with limited sled access. After that it's done. That's my opinion

Snowmobiling as a permitted use should have been written in to the deed on the parcels that they are going to be allowed on.

2 minutes ago, Zambroski said:

This has been a pretty hot topic over on HCS for some time.  I get it...it sucks...another liberal nut bag fucking with our choices of leisure.  HOWEVER...it's her land and if she wants to donate it to the government and public with her own caveats attached, so be it.  Nothing any of us can do about it.  Fact is, she is doing something well...I'll say "good" for the future of the land.  Whatever kind of benefit she gets from it is well...moot.  Again..her shit, she can donate it any way she wants.  And it would appear that for the next three years there will be limited access at least.  That means the people/organizations that want to use that land after that had better start to make a good case for their side over the next three years.  $20 says we all fuck it up for ourselves.  After all, fuck her and her land right?  And that is exactly what she is probably counting on.  We can all be our own worst enemy sometimes.

Agreed on it's her property and she can what she wants to do with it. There's plenty of people that do not seem to get that. There will be meeting and agreements on a limited trail access. As you said it will probably get screwed up by a some idiot.

1 minute ago, ckf said:

Snowmobiling as a permitted use should have been written in to the deed on the parcels that they are going to be allowed on.

The devil will be in the details.

its just what we dont need. there is a video on the bangor daily news site. her son saying how great it will be. and her forester standing in the skidder trail just amazed that someone cut that tree without touching the regen. as i heard it she bought cut over woodland. i hope she paid way to much

Doesn't like like Governor LePage was in favor of it.

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Governor LePage's Statement Regarding President Obama's designation of a National Monument in the North Woods can be found below.

“President Obama is once again taking unilateral action against the will of the people, this time the citizens of rural Maine. The Legislature passed a resolution opposing a National Monument in the North Woods, members of Maine’s Congressional delegation opposed it and local citizens voted against it repeatedly.'

'Despite this lack of support, the Quimby family used high-paid lobbyists in Washington, D.C., to go around the people of Maine and have President Obama use his authority to designate this area a National Monument. This once again demonstrates that rich, out-of-state liberals can force their unpopular agenda on the Maine people against their will.'

'Quimby is already well known for preventing hunting, snowmobiling, ATVs, forestry and other traditional activities on her land, and a National Monument will most likely restrict these uses even more. It is my understanding that for those few acres where hunting would be allowed, Quimby has attempted to recreate the restrictions found in the bear baiting referendum that the Maine people roundly rejected as recently as 2014. If average Mainers don’t realize by now that the political system is rigged against them by wealthy, self-serving liberals from away, this is a serious wake-up call. The fix has been in all along.”

 

 

32 minutes ago, ckf said:

Doesn't like like Governor LePage was in favor of it.

 

He was dead set against it.

Shouldnt be snowmobiling allowed on national monuments or property designated as monuments.  Sledding will be dead in this area soon.

Is there a map that shows how much land is involved?

Just now, ckf said:

Is there a map that shows how much land is involved?

1 minute ago, Zambroski said:

Who is that holdout in the centre? , that's like 20% of the State,

Just now, Momorider said:

Who is that holdout in the centre? , that's like 20% of the State,

That is Baxter State park...already a "reserve".  So, its essentially the whole shaded area.

27 minutes ago, Zambroski said:

That's an old Maine of a proposed national park that didn't get anywhere

23 minutes ago, Momorider said:

Who is that holdout in the centre? , that's like 20% of the State,

 

22 minutes ago, Zambroski said:

That is Baxter State park...already a "reserve".  So, its essentially the whole shaded area.

Baxter State Park allows snowmobiling there in a limited way. One can ride the access road and has to obey the speed limits.

17 minutes ago, Zambroski said:

The part on the right is the new monument.

part of baxter is forever wild but the other part has a forest management plan and they do cut wood there

A lot of the good snowmobiling in Wisconsin and Michigan is in the national forests.