MILLINOCKET, Maine — Town Council members on Thursday voted 6-1 to table a letter to Maine’s congressional delegation detailing conditions they would require of a proposed North Woods national park.
Councilors and several residents who spoke during a meeting at the town office expressed distrust of the federal government and said park proponent Lucas St. Clair’s proposal is too vague to support the three-page letter drafted by Town Manager Peggy Daigle. Councilors said they will hold a forum next month to collate the town’s requirements. No dates have been set.
“You don’t go to a code enforcement officer and ask for a building permit [without those details],” Councilor Michael Madore said Thursday. “You want a park? Fine. Detail it. Show me.”
“I don’t see the national park as the panacea that a lot of people see. Having the federal government in my backyard is something that I am not excited about at all,” Councilor Richard Theriault said. “To think that if we call this piece of ground a national park, people will flock to it, I just find ludicrous.”
Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King asked town officials last fall to state their requirements for enabling legislation should a park be slated for consideration. The park’s creation begins with Maine’s federal delegation introducing a bill. The delegates have said they need to see strong local support for the proposal before that will happen.
St. Clair’s spokesman, David Farmer, was among the approximately 100 people who attended the meeting. He said he saw many positives in the discussion.
“It is an important step forward,” Farmer said. “There is a lot of agreement here. We really want to get feedback from people and be as inclusive in the process as possible.”
Councilors and park opponents reiterated Thursday some long-standing criticisms. They have said a park would bring unwelcome federal authority into Maine, cramp the state’s forest products industries with strict air-quality laws and grow far beyond 150,000 acres.
Councilor Jimmy Busque doubted that St. Clair’s proposal — a 75,000-acre national park and a 75,000-acre recreation area on land east of Baxter State Park — would remain that size. Councilor Bryant Davis said the town could market itself without the aid of the National Park Service.
“I am opposed to sending the letter and I believe the National Park Service would develop the plan, not us,” Theriault said. “We have no say.”
The letter, Madore said, wouldn’t necessarily represent an endorsement of the park plan. Councilor Anita Mueller, who voted against tabling the letter, said that St. Clair’s plan is intentionally vague.
“Sitting here tonight, we are all creating the plan. It hasn’t been developed. It is somebody’s vision,” Mueller said.
Some residents urged councilors to mail the letter.
“Move Millinocket forward. We cannot go back. We need to live in the future,” resident Charles Cirame said. “We don’t know who is going to run that park up there. We can be sure that there is going to be a park there and Millinocket wants there to be a park there as close as we can, and moving forward with this letter is part of that.”
“There is enough technology that any new industry that would come into the area would have pollution controls that would meet standards,” resident Harold Walsh said. “This town is dying. The park is at least something and something is at least better than nothing.”
Resident Tom St. John called park opposition “a travesty.” The area’s interstate highways, schools, Social Security payments and the U.S. military are federally controlled entities that people accept, he said.
“If anybody is worried about the federal government, it surrounds you,” St. John said.
The letter “keeps the dialogue going,” resident and former Councilor Gail Fanjoy said. “I can’t fathom the misinformation in things I have heard about this from you [councilors] and from others. I have a deeper question for you to ponder — who do you trust? What will it take for you to believe what will and will not be a part of this effort?”