Katahdin Woods, getting the designation - Dirtbag Diaries

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

B the Hiker

Well-known member
VFTT Supporter
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
1,174
Reaction score
132
Location
Middletown, CT
http://dirtbagdiaries.com/endangered-spaces-katahdin-woods-waters/

I don't know how these things happen, but one stumbles upon something, in this case, several people pointed me towards it, and I have become addicted to a podcast called The Dirtbag Diaries.

If you listen to postcasts, and you haven't discovered this one yet, please let it be my gift to you. In any event, the link to the most recent episode above is about getting Katahdin Woods into a federal monument status, and it is simply beautiful. It's nuanced, and uncovers much of what goes on in ways we don't typically see.

The donor (who founded Burt's Bees), simply thought she would be able to donate the land, and that everyone would welcome the park. The podcast shows a more complicated picture, where the land had previously been owned by local paper mill, which let locals snowmobile and hunt and rent cabins ("camps") at below-market prices, and along came an out-of-towner who ended the snowmobiles and the hunting and jacked up the rents, and then folks began to worry about what would happen when the feds came in. Thus, there was initially a lot of local opposition (plus the governor), and the podcast does a nice job of exploring the initial opposition and then how things got turned around to where a majority of locals came to support the park. They do a very nice job of listening to local voices.

If you've listened to this podcast, or you do listen to it, I would love to have a conversation about it.

Enjoy!

All the best,


Brian


p.s. If you're new to The Dirtbag Diaries, they're free on the iTunes store. The podcast just turned 10, and after listening to some of the most recent ones (which are very polished) I recommend starting at the beginning and working your way forward, just to see how far the show comes.
 
Last edited:
I'm going to give it a try. Always looking for a good podcast, thanks for the recommendation.
 
As is often the case, people hate the new. Not that the world is simple, but in general: all change is bad. But what was interesting about Katahdin Woods is that for many locals, they legitimately did have reason to believe their lives wouldn't have been as good had the park been approved.

I've been thinking about when something happened in the WMNF or surrounding environs that people approved of without a fuss. New AMC facility, power lines, taking bridges down... Maybe getting rid of fee parking at many of the lots, but I suspect that anyone who reads this forum regularly has a parking pass anyhow.
 
Last edited:
As is often the case, people hate the new. Not that the world is simple, but in general: all change is bad. But what was interesting about Katahdin Woods is that for many locals, they legitimately did have reason to believe their lives wouldn't have been as good had the park been approved.

I've been thinking about when something happened in the WMNF or surrounding environs that people approved of without a fuss. New AMC facility, power lines, taking bridges down... Maybe getting rid of fee parking at many of the lots, but I suspect that anyone who reads this forum regularly has a parking pass anyhow.
The WMNF is just that. A National Forest not a National Monument. Whole different animal.
 
I'm very confused by your statement, err, "skiguy." Are you saying that if the WMNF were a national monument then people would been upset about the proposed power lines, taking down existing bridges, and new AMC facilities?
 
I'm very confused by your statement, err, "skiguy." Are you saying that if the WMNF were a national monument then people would been upset about the proposed power lines, taking down existing bridges, and new AMC facilities?
Yes. Just saying National Monuments and National Forest have different use designations. Thence National Forests having more latitude of use maybe why not as much fuss, albeit there was some; but maybe not to the degree experienced over the fore mentioned National Monument. Just my opinion nothing else.

One example of what I am alluding too. https://gizmodo.com/national-park-vs-national-forest-your-public-land-expl-1697581346
 
Last edited:
Okay, so you are saying that if the WMNF were instead a national monument that we wouldn't be seeing opposition to the Northern Pass power lines, we wouldn't have seen opposition to the AMC opening a new facility in Crawford Notch, and no one would have complained when the Ranger took the bridges out from the Pemi area. Just wanted to clarify.
 
Okay, so you are saying that if the WMNF were instead a national monument that we wouldn't be seeing opposition to the Northern Pass power lines, we wouldn't have seen opposition to the AMC opening a new facility in Crawford Notch, and no one would have complained when the Ranger took the bridges out from the Pemi area. Just wanted to clarify.

Different rules for parks and national monuments. The above opposition either would not have been needed or would not have worked. The national forests are meant to be used. For hiking, skiing, camping, wood harvesting. There are less restrictions in place, but more flexibility is inherent too.
 
Okay, so you are saying that if the WMNF were instead a national monument that we wouldn't be seeing opposition to the Northern Pass power lines, we wouldn't have seen opposition to the AMC opening a new facility in Crawford Notch, and no one would have complained when the Ranger took the bridges out from the Pemi area. Just wanted to clarify.
NO..Just the opposite.
 
Top