Trump should undo Maine national monument

To the Editor;
We’re being told the economy of the Northern Penobscot region is on the mend thanks to the new national monument. Truth is it’s up a little; instead of five visitors a day to a local business, they can expect six now. If we’re willing to settle for such a small improvement, let’s sign up now.

I think it’s a terrible idea because we can do so much better. Northern Maine grows some of the finest lumber you’ll find anywhere, for hardwood floors, furniture, construction lumber, and the list goes on and on. The way we can manage forests now with modern machinery to save the high quality young trees is amazing. This management will lead to stands of high-value timber that we have never seen before in Maine, and on a much shorter rotation, providing good-paying, year-round jobs to raise a family.

Take a good look at federal land ownership around the nation over the years from the “let it burn” policy to the mismanagement of insect infestations. Think about the effect those policies will have on Maine. Federal forests will become an incubator of destructive insects and disease allowed to spread to private forests. Then we’ll see the huge forest fires Maine has experienced in the past, rivers and streams full of silt from land with no vegetation to protect it.

It’s too bad we can’t find some middle-ground solution like making this a national forest, as some have suggested. The problem is if federal ownership stays in place there’s no way to stop it from growing like a cancer on our economy until it consumes any hope of the ability to raise a family here, no matter the name, until every Maine family is forced to move away like so many already have. Like a cancer, this has to be eliminated before it kills Northern Maine.

A hundred years ago there was a move to make a national park in the North Maine Woods. Gov. Baxter knew what a disaster that would be and gave us a wonderful state park, much better than any federal park could ever be. When we accepted that land in multiple special laws voted on by many legislatures and signed by numerous governors it was plain why he was doing this. We need to honor the commitments we made so long ago in letter and in spirit.

Let’s hope President Trump keeps his promise made during the campaign to undo this National Monument designation. Let’s hope this property is returned to private hands. So that everyone can benefit, snowmobile and ATV trails can be re-established, adjoining landowners can be assured of access to their property. So that Maine gets the high quality timber we need to fuel an economy that provides real jobs. Jobs that you can raise a family on not the minimum wage, part time, seasonal jobs of a national park.

Doug Thomas
Ripley