Parks comparison apples to oranges
To the Editor:
Recently arguments for developing a national park east of Baxter State Park with land donated by Roxanne Quimby have relied on two studies done by Headwaters Economics (HE). The studies look at several national parks and recreation areas across the country and suggest that the proposed park would provide an additional 450 to 1,000 jobs and $21 million to the Katahdin area.
I chose one of those parks, Badlands National Park in South Dakota, established in 1978 and did a comparison of that park to the proposed one. The data is from the last year of the HE study, 2010.
Badlands National Park is superior on many fronts and yet, the study illogically implies that the proposed Katahdin park will attract the same number of jobs and close to the same money generated at the Badlands Park.
It is important to remember that the St. Clair/Quimby proposed park has no significant infrastructure, and no means by which to create it except through taxpayer monies. Although the St. Clair/Quimby team promises to raise $40 million in additional funds, they are exclusively earmarked for maintenance and not for development of roads, trails, camping facilities, and lodging.
Since 2010, the Badlands has seen a significant uptick in the number of visitors and money generated. From national media reporting, it can be inferred that this is primarily due to the restrictions and high costs associated with attendance at other parks in the region, significantly Yellowstone Park.
Recently, the National Park Service has diverted money from maintenance of established parks to acquiring more land across the United States. In tandem with this diversion of money, fees have risen at the established parks, and restrictions on times and areas of access have increased.
There is a possibility that the establishment of the proposed national park in the Katahdin area would have a negative financial impact on the Bar Harbor area. I have no problem with the St. Clair/Quimby team donating their land to the State of Maine to be added to Baxter State Park, but it would be a disastrous mistake to let the National Park System take land from the citizens of Maine.
Jan Dolcater
Rockport