Roxanne Quimby’s family has withdrawn its proposal to build a 70,000-acre national park adjacent to Baxter State Park, her son Lucas St. Clair said Tuesday.
The family would still like to see a national park in northern Maine, but has withdrawn its proposal submitted to the National Park Service and is pursuing other options, St. Clair said.
“That proposal is not on the table any more,” St. Clair, president of the board of the Quimby Family Foundation, said during a telephone interview. “There is no specific park proposal, so we are continuing to evaluate the potential uses of our lands. We are listening to hunters and all the other stakeholders of northern Maine. We are not talking about whether you are for or against the park. The essential question is: How can we best protect these lands for the future generations of Maine?”
“It is not that we don’t want [a park]. It is that we want to have all the stakeholders in mind and to come up with a package. We own acreage that goes beyond 70,000 acres,” St. Clair added, “and we want [to develop] a package of uses that make sense for a wider group of people, representing the wider interests of Maine.”
Quimby did not immediately return an email seeking comment sent Tuesday.
St. Clair said a national park “is a component of [their plans], absolutely. We feel like there is so much equity in a national park. It is one of the things we are considering as we put together everybody’s best ideas for the best use for the land. We don’t have all the best ideas.”
A noted entrepreneur and environmentalist, Quimby in March 2009 proposed building a 70,000-acre national park on her land adjoining Baxter State Park as a gift to the nation in 2016, but the proposal ran into almost total opposition politically. Most recreation and forest products industry groups opposed it. Support came from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, and the town of Medway, though a survey commissioned by a park support group claimed 60 percent of Mainers favored a national park.
The specific proposal to the National Park Service was pulled in September, St. Clair said. Efforts to reach park service spokesmen were not immediately successful Tuesday.
Maine Snowmobile Association Executive Director Bob Meyers, a park opponent, welcomed helping the Quimby family reshape its plans but doubted the park idea would really ever go away.
“The national park idea has been around for more than 20-plus years and I don’t see it going away,” Meyers said Tuesday. “I think every time it has raised its head there has been this groundswell of public opposition to it. At what point do the people proposing these things say, ‘Gee, I guess this is just a nonstarter up there?’”
Millinocket interim Town Manager Charles Pray, a park opponent, said he wants to evaluate the new development before he does anything else.
“I am never one to close doors,” Pray said. “I think the issue has been long-stated by what I will call ‘traditional Mainers,’ those who wanted to protect their traditional [land] uses. A lot of those who expressed concerns or reservations were saying [they feared] they would lose traditional uses that had been part of the local culture for decades.”
Given Quimby’s opposition to hunting, forestry and motorized recreation and other traditional uses on her land, Pray said, Quimby essentially violated at least the spirit of Maine tree growth tax structure, which gave tax breaks to landowners that kept their lands open to hunting and forestry.
“I have to see what they are really attempting to reach out for,” Pray said of St. Clair and Quimby. “Are they being totally candid about what their plans are? Has Roxanne, for example, changed her feelings about allowing people to hunt on her lands?”
St. Clair declined to say what uses would be allowed on Quimby lands, but he said he has for the last several weeks talked with leaders in the recreation and tourism industries besides Meyers. He described the outreach as courtesy calls informing some of them of Quimby’s latest land purchase or telling them the foundation welcomed their ideas.
Jym St. Pierre, leader of the effort to build a 3.2 million-acre national park in the Katahdin region called RESTORE: The North Woods, said Quimby’s new stance won’t change his position ― the woods need to be protected permanently with a park.
“I haven’t talked to them about this,” St. Pierre said. “I would get they are recalibrating their campaign. Roxanne has been very clear as to what her goal is, which is to see that land permanently protected. It is her land and she can do what she wants to with it.”
“Maybe temporarily they are changing their course, but I think in the long term the goal remains to have the land protected,” he added.
Much of the controversy surrounding Quimby began with her first land purchases more than 10 years ago, when she often fenced off old logging trails and banned hunting and other uses on her lands. Though she allows more passive recreational uses, such as hiking and bird watching, on her lands, she was among the first landowners to put nature first in her priorities, which drew her accolades nationally.
The park proposal followed a similar pattern. It drew national attention and endorsements from some national groups, such as the Sierra Club, but was seen as divisive locally.
Medway’s pro-park stance contrasted with Millinocket’s and East Millinocket’s opposition. Millinocket Town Council unanimously opposed the park, while East Millinocket’s selectmen awaited election results that showed most townspeople opposed a study of the park’s feasibility before following suit.
The park proposal’s critics feared federal control and park regulations would stifle the forest products industry and said a park would provide few economic benefits to the Katahdin region. Proponents said the park would bolster the economy, fit well with existing industries and that the park service was the best liked of all federal agencies.
Wow that sucks, it would have been great for the State. It seems like the few hundred people in the area of got to keep what they feel is their personal playland.
far more than a few hundred, let her build it somewhere else.
Western Massachusetts come to mind.
Yup. And the others are too burned out to even know what is going on.
Frankly I’d rather see her simply donate the land to the state as part of Baxter State Park. There is still plenty of land and trees available for cutting if we had an industry that actually could use it. As far as hunting is concerned, you’d be no worse off. She’s posted against hunting and I believe fishing as well. At least as part of Baxter fishing would be permitted.
If Quimby would take the time to learn about sustainable forestry and overall ecology, harvesting could co=exist quite nicely with hunting, fishing, recreation and protection.
I’ve seen too much of the “sustainable forestry” to know that it doesn’t “co-exist quite nicely” with hunting etc. Look at the problems with deer populations in recent times all because their winter feeding areas are no longer there because of clear-cutting forests. Can iot work? Sure it can. Does it? Sometimes but not often enough.
Not all her land is posted against hunting.She can’t stop fishing,she doesn’t own the water.
She can certainly stop fishing if you can’t get to the water across her land or if you are on her land while trying to fish.
She hasnt denied access to fishing or fiddleheading
Not all of her land is posted “No hunting” and none is posted “No Fishing”
There was never a more safe / functional time in terms of access, use, road maintenance, bridge maintenance, county and town funding via taxes etc… then when Great Northern Paper ran the show pre 1990’s. Unfortunately, the unions, environmentalists, and democrats have functionally dismantled that relationship with a combination of over-regulation, over-taxation, collective bargaining & protesting, and unrealistic renewable energy mandates which destroyed Maine’s chances on the global forest products market due to very high energy costs. Now with the northern towns and economies in shambles we are supposed to appreciate somebody like Quimby swooping in and promising that the right thing will be done? Please. Thousands of Forest Products jobs would have been nicer than than the 50 jobs a park would provide.
Don’t forget the lack of market. Paper products are simply not in demand as they were….internet and digital processes have cut deep in to the paper product. Too bad Matt you have to blame a political/philosophical sector, when really much of the blame is on the open market.
True, South America and other countries make paper now too.
Trade policies allowed competition from foreign countries that damaged or destroyed Maine interests. Should’ve said not only “No”, but “H E double hockey sticks NO!” at the time.
Other countries have always made paper.
The US makes it cheaper per ton.
Paper is needed for toilet paper, receipts, wrapping, books, magazines, etc. When an EMP hits, your digital crap will be nothing at all. Paper is at least somewhat permanent until it gets wet or burns. And you know, a paper towel is way better at drying your hands than a blower that comes on after you walk away.
Shouldn’t you be out working on your bunker?
Nah, I’m going to be right out there watching all the action. Growing up near Loring AFB and having my childhood wits scared out of me, I learned early on to accept whatever comes. Tired of worry and fear.
Your digital crap? Hah!
Did you post this via the new wood processor?
I love my computer. Right now I am learning by listening to online radio and videos from indy media. Primary sources. When I say digital crap, I mean banking records, texts, photos, news articles and other media that can be changed or erased in the blink of an eye. How safe does this look for all your digital crap? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMOZvEnbPSU
Thinking about such scenarios is fun, and it certainly would make for an interesting drama. Though no real point as you say, in worrying about or fearing it. Being in a “prepared” minority will only help so much when a raging mob or better armed government comes looking to re-distribute ones meticulously built stockpile. Catch 22.
Not only am I not worrying about it or fearing it, I pray for it while people snicker.
Why not cut yourself off from society and go off the grid now? What’s stopping you?
Come on….lets be honest for once, don’t tell me recycling hasn’t hurt the paper industry…..quit whining about using a blower instead of paper towels. You have to go out the bath room door that others use and they don’t wash…..Gee growing up around Loring AFB would make any person whine.
Don’t forget recycling. No longer need to go to the forest to make paper products without having to carry the tree out of the forest. Now they can stay near a city in a recycle plant and get used boxes and other paper products.
And, we were taught, brainwashed as children to push for recycling, just to destroy the industry and economy around us.
The trees could also be used for building houses and furniture. Toys are all plastic now instead of wooden or metal too. We could save on oil by going back to wood toys.
tell newpage, verso, lincoln paper and tissue, irving paper, fraser paper, etc. there products aren’t in demand. we ship almost 4000 loads of paper and tissue products a month out of maine going pretty much everywhere east of the Mississippi. The volume we ship has increased and from what I have heard our competitors haven’t decline any. The print industry is in decline but there is still a huge demand for paper product.
this will increase more when the yuppies get their bans on plastic grocery bags. The demand for paper bags is going to skyrocket. Funny the same bags that were designed to ‘save the trees’. Whats going to happen to all the plastic they stop recycling into these bags now….
When Irving mining co has shipped all the trees then they will start digging for the mineral.
I think you are oversimplifying here. Clear-cutting, poor management of timber resources, the selling off of land to developers, and — as wintahwren states — changing economics have all played a part in the decline of the paper industry.,
One could certainly argue that the paper companies exploited Maine for a long time — and then cashed in and sold out. Keeping a healthy forest products industry is important to Maine. But if it means abandoning environmental protections, paying “China wages,” and giving undue tax breaks to wealthy corporations, then it’s not worth it.
Maine shouldn’t seek to depend entirely on recreation and tourism, but there is potential to make some big economic gains by promoting more tourism and recreation in the Northern Maine Woods.
These processes were planned. Wake up! Build up and bust is how “they” create wealth for themselves!
Good points, I’d like to add that if that tourism and recreation were complemented by investments in forest management, such as pre-commercial thinning and crop tree release, the regional economy would have a major resource in 30-40 years.
These treatments are obviously good investments, but few of the companies up there right now have the funds to invest or the security to look 30 years into the future. If Ms. Quimby has money to invest and an interest in the regional economy, she could improve the quality of the timber on her land through early stand treatments.
Thinning and crop tree release can encourage a much higher-valued product than is harvested now. What we normally think of when we talk about PCT is spruce/fir, which is normally either pulp or dimensional lumber. Thinning dense spruce/fir regeneration is a good way to make money, but there are other ways to get a bang for your buck:
Take paper birch: I’m getting the impression that most of the paper birch in the region is going to end up as torrefied wood on a boat to England. But if you send a hand crew with chainsaws into a dense young stand, you can pick the best 100 stems out of the 1-2,000 per acre and release them, cutting the competitors and leaving them to rot. Think of carrots in the garden: you can have a lot of little ones or a few big ones, so you thin them out. In 20-30 years, these released trees will have grown enough to be harvested for plywood veneers, a much higher-value product. Higher value means value added, and people get paid for adding value (read: jobs).
Managing dense hardwoods like that is usually a small woodlot trick, but it’s been done a bit on public reserve land and some large private ownerships with a high degree of success. It’s not cheap ($70-200 per acre depending who, when and where), but it’s a very solid investment.
Most people find stands of well-spaced, vigorously growing trees nice to look at and walk through. Most of her lands have been hammered over the years and are in serious need of some rest and relaxation. A little tending work would go a long way on a lot of her acres. It’s not standard management on 70,000 acres, but standard management has left us with a resource suitable for biomass and not much else. Ms. Quimby could provide all the recreational opportunities outlined in the previous post while demonstrating exemplary forest management and supporting the regional economy. The eventual harvest could be done as a further demonstration of best practices.
There’s a lot of good things she could do with that land up there. If she ever wanted to have lunch…
This is one of Quimby’s biggest problems. She has admitted to no know what a sustainable forest is. She uses Thoreau’s ideology of never cutting down a tree. The two fringes are in a battle here and there is a workable compromise. but I do not trust Quimby. Yes it is her land but I do believe she will not honor the traditional use of the Maine woods.
Frankly, what I outlined is as much of a departure from traditional use as anything she’s doing now. Historically, our northern forest has been treated as a timber mine. First we cut the big pine sawlogs, then the big spruce sawlogs, then we cut the pulp so hard we converted millions of acres of spruce/fir to weedy hardwoods. We’ve cut from the top of the products list to the bottom, and now we’re left with a resource so hammered that all we’ve got an abundance of now is biomass and pulp. If we keep slicking it off every 40 years, we’re never going to have anything better than biomass, which isn’t exactly a valuable market.
Given what I’ve seen of the tradition, I hope she doesn’t honor traditional use. I’d like to see her play nicely with all the recreational groups, which she seems to be, but if she actually invested in her woodlands and gave them some time to grow I know a lot of good could come out of that.
I guess I should have defined my “traditional” use. It has nothing to do with cutting lumber like clear-cutting. Its the recreational use that I am talking about.
bam! knowledge and logic over myth and emotion!
not tending a forest doesn’t produce better trees, just the natural chaos of a wilderness not good for forestry or a national park.
selective forestry over the next 5-20 years would make her lands a much more impressive national park if that is still their intent.
You sir have just written the most logical statement that I have seen on this site in years. You sir have the idea’s that need to be discussed. The rhetoric that has flown from both sides has accomplished more damage to both the forest and the economy than the area can afford. Today I feel that Lucas St Clair is inviting just the type of dialog that needs to be brought to the table.
Well said.
“would have..might have….but if only….” – that pretty much sums up the story of the Maine hinterlands of our time, eh?
Unions? Just like the great steel mills of Pennsylvania the Paper mills, aka Great Northern, failed to modernize and did so intentionally.
They didn’t have the resources to modernize.
The unions bled them dry !
No, China under cut them………and our beloved politicians sat back, lined their pockets and let it happen!!!
Didn’t just let it happen…they helped it happen.
China wasn’t much of a market breaker in the 70s and 80s. But their business model, which imagined a world where American steel would always be in top demand, was their problem. An overly strong union trying to deny the future didn’t help.
The companies that ran the mills were multi billion dollar multi national companies who paid their executives enormous sums of money just for starters who could not have functioned without the workers. Nothing could have bled them dry except their own priorities and unreasonable forestry practices and even that did not do it because they ran with all of their money when there was an inkling that things might not be going too well
Unfortunately the TRUTH is that Georgia Pacific and Irving reaped the County Forests and took most of the timber to Canada. That is why many of the lumber mills both privately owned and corporations closed. Where do you think The Pelletiers haul 90 % of their tree length and logs….That’s right Quebec Canada Mills…..also Millinocket reaps what they sow. They keep begging for mills to open but Gene Cologne left for a reason….he seen a decaying area and most of it happened on his watch.
The major reason there is so little of the lumber manufacturing industry is forty plus years of union led and financed democrat legislative control.
The Maine forest products industry has always had enemies, and the three biggest have been the federal government, the Canadian government, and the state government, in that order.
When it came time to comply with environmental regulations, up in Quebec, their government said to the mill owners, “We will help you to modernize while cleaning up the degradation that has ocurred”.
In Maine, our governments said “You will clean up these environmental problems or else”.
Most chose “or else” leaving the mess and taking the jobs overseas, or over the border, in some cases.
How can you blame RQ and environmentalists for the cut and run practices of the paper companies none of whom gave a crap about the people of Maine or the woods and the animals that inhabit them.. Used them, yes paid them and would have enslaved them but for the unions, abandoned them time and again, cut the woods to shreds gave access as a bone to gnaw on and to make you love them while they raped the woods over and over made multi millions and sold, cut again, made multi millions and sold, etc etc etc..I remember the vast wastelands that were cut and poisoned until the environmentalists who you love to hate raised questions about the unsound practices and the rules changed I too used the paper company land to camp but had to pay a fee as you hunters may have also (I really don’t know since I don’t participate) Remember the gates one had to pass through? Let me tell you those sites were frequently trashed by people who supposedly love the land better than people like me. But please put the blame where it belongs. RQ doesn’t have the power to have screwed up the economy of northern Maine, has nothing to do with the loss of jobs, and your knee jerk reactions to her proposals, even now when she has said that her plans for HER land have changed and she wants you at the table are off the wall.
I love the rose colored glasses reflecting on the good old days. When I think of Great Northern Paper in the 80’s all that comes to mind is miles and miles and miles of clear cut forests expanding out in all directions. Right now the forests are in their best shape in 40+ years.
Good.
Beware, of other options.
Yup!. I’m sure AMC, Sierra, RESTORE, and others will regroup with her. In the long haul, non of those special interests support traditional use, and want nothing but primitive use. Hopefully she will come up with a balanced approach to protect the land from development, but allow ALL groups use of the land.
Isn’t traditional use regular clear cutting ?
No. Also it is her land to manage. I’m sure she would never support any kind of clear cutting. What are you getting at. I was referring to activities other than hugging trees.
And you believe him? Seriously? Didn’t she just buy 8000 more acres and oh yes gave us a 13 mile dead end trail to nowhere? That group in Medway must be distraught and heart broken at the news!
The park feasibilty study group disbanded 2 years ago. Where have you been? Or are you just trolling for comments?
Actually it has been about 10 months
It is her land. Her decision. You want to make the decision, then buy the land from her and make an ATV park, or hunting reserve, or a roller rink.
and she has time and time again voiced her distaste for maine people,so beware of her motives for buying up maine land.
Have to agree. I saw something like this once…the magician points to where he wants you to look while something else is really going on.
Let this lady do what she wants with her land and give Plum Creek the same ability!
give everyone the same ability, to do what they want with their land
And make it a crime to give it to the federal government.
yea, right…….I’m sure Jym St. Pierre or any of the radical enviro-terrorists would welcome an 7000 acre ATV park or using this land for wilderness resort living……your view of property freedom here is rather insulting….Ms. Quimby is the the one saying she wants to allow hunting, snowmobile access, etc…..no one is making her to say that….I think people are having the problem with her saying that, and then doing the exact opposite. In her perfect world, this land would be so regulated that other than those who walk without talkng, this land would be rendered useless except to the very few who want to enjoy land this way.
they are going to develop it, the national park idea was to get everyone against it and then turn around and say ok we’ll develop it instead. the end around
Sounds like she finally gave up when her equally whacked-out buddy Cynthia Dill lost heavily in the last election. Dill was the only legislative member who supported this park, all others want nothing to do with it. Also, a great job by the members of the MSA for standing strong against this crazy idea.
Wait a minute..wait a minute..wait….a…..minute…She has a son???? Some dude must of been wearing some serious beer goggles…
That’s what they say about your father.
How original, Joe. The same cannot be said about your parents though, being brother and sister and all. Your father had years to warm up to her..
Which end did the doctor slap when you came out of mommy?
Your creativity and wit is really on display here today, Joe.
And he is not bad looking at all…. I must say, though married w/a kiddo according to his FB page. (*I am quoting FB as a source, does that make me qualified to be a BDN reporter now?) :)
Not only a reporter, but more than likely one of their best ones!
Complete with my own typo no less! Which I have gone back and corrected…
I would be curious about what you look like, Probably a Michelangelo statue huh?
Now don’t get offended Buzzardbob. I’m sure age has taken it’s toll on Roxanne and she was a lot less masculine back when you had your way with him…l mean her…
You miss my point. Who cares what someone looks like? It is such a superficial way to judge people. To some Roxanne is beautiful to some not so but what does that mean? Have you ever talked to her Have you ever had an opportunity to see what is in her heart and soul? Ever looked into her eyes? I personally have been around “beautiful” people who, the minute they open their mouths, turned me off and visa versa Cliches like beauty is skin deep are really true.
I didn’t miss your point. I know exactly what you’re trying to say.
You don’t have to explain to me the true meaning of beauty nor I hope would I need to explain to you drunken bar dynamics at closing time.
Sorry to sound so condescending and yes I have been around enough bars at closing time so no need for an explanation. Speak to you.
bb
I don’t like the park idea at all, yet this personal attack of her phyical self is wrong.. grow up. if thats all you have to say then don’t comment at all..
This is where the big boys hang out. If these comments offend you go hide under your mommy’s skirt.
I’d rather hide under your mommy’s skirt.
Sorry, Joe my mother doesn’t take in strays.
That’s not what she told me.
A daughter too
free radicals cause cancer
free radicals cause political upheaval.
I would like to know when she is going to start paying taxes on all this land
What makes you think she has not been?
She has it all under a non-profit corp.
I would like to know when more than 50% of the people that live up North will be paying taxes instead of living off the state???
if she is tired of the petty negativity the locals throw at her, who can blame her? They continue to pray for paper mills that will poison their lungs and enslave their bodies.
and a roof over their heads and food on their tables.
Courtesy of Maine taxpayers……..
This woman has a son?… good for her..
Hope the last check cleared, Bob M.
one thing is sure….taxes must be paid…I think this is starting to eat into the family bucks! Be smart Roxy….subdivide, log off and lease out…make some money to pay those taxes! If a national park is made, all you accomplish is to get Portland people lost in the woods!
Mr. St. Clair gets it. Buy at the bottom of market, then decide what to do with it.
I heard she is buying this land for someone in china.
China, Maine?
State park under state control would be much better.
quimby won’t go for that because than people can hunt in the park.
I hope that in their reflection they will realize that the national park model is the wrong model for protection with federal support. The model for our northern counties has to be more like the adirondack park model . We need a federal version of that model.
I am glad the family is reconsidering. It has been a huge and unnecessary point of contention and axis of polarity.
I guess she doesn’t like the Idea of Obama selling off the Parks and doesn’t want to take a chance
Buys a plot of land than takes the park off the table. Round 3 coming up, BEWARE. She got further this time than the last time.
I believe it takes an act of congress to make a national park. I can’t see that going over well in this economy. Give her a break, she’s an American. It could be a lot worse.
Well phew, what a relief! Now we won’t have to worry about the same thing happening to the Maine Woods that happened to Mt. Desert Island! No more worrying about increased traffic on our northern roads, increased demand for lodging and food and all the other annoying problems that tourists travelling to and staying near national parks brings to an area. And just as long as Ms Quimby understands that the ‘Maine tradition’ is, “Your land is MY land to use, and don’t forget that or I’ll bad mouth you constantly to whomever will listen”, she’ll be just fine.
Yeah…..I just don’t get it. They call her every name in the book and rake her over the coals…….AND THEN expect to use her land!!! What a bunch of a-h***s.
All one needs to do is look at her poliitical contributions to see where she’s comming from.
yeah , now my northern cousins will not have to worry about having to get a real job and losing their government check .
You notice that Quimby says a National “Park” is off the table, but not a National “Monument”. All that’s required to get a National Monument is for the President to declare one. I can certainly see Obama doing it, especially as a big FU to the obstructionist republicans who are trying to make his life a living he!!. I’d expect no less in this era of “take no prisoners” politics. Quimby has certainly exhibited this “take no prisoners – my way or the highway” approach.
At the Millinocket National Park dog and pony show a year and a half ago, Quimby poo-pooed the idea of National Monument status, as she wanted the whole enchilada. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s time for plan B, and contrary to what the article suggests, so called “stakeholders” will be on a need to know basis.
“Off the table” that’s a nice way of saying that the voters said NO…!
She can do whatever she wants with her land, except make it into a national park…!
Quimby created her own animosity over many years and she is not the type to go from a hate filled liberal that belittles area residents, burns down camps, lies and blackmails to some kind of person you’d want as a neighbor, or trust on “any” level..!
Roxanne says – Whops maybe I made a mistake. I hope Plum Creek is in the market for some cut over woodland.
I have been following this story for several years and still I must be missing something. My understanding is that the land is no longer leased or needed for forestry, no one has lost a job as a result of Ms. Quimby’s ownership. She would like to see the land returned to its natural state and perhaps be of use to future generations. And now folks are upset because they can’t exploit her land for their own purpose? Geez, I just don’t get it.
Show me when we fought and lost the war with the United States or the State of Maine. Show me when we sold it to you or any of you. Show me the bill of sale. We who have no lands reserved to us sufficient to support our economy and families. But, we are, instead, marginalized onto a postage-stamp sized concentration camp here in so-called Aroostook County while you squabble over our traditional Maliseet lands …our lands!
Give it back. This will ensure it is protected and sustainably maintained.
Please.
Ms. Quimby. Do the right thing. It is our Maliseet ancestors who are buried there …long before anyone came along to “discover” it from us.
Give us our land back. We will make sure it is respected and protected for all of us…. again.
Signed:
Member, Maliseet Tribal Nation