In July, ultramarathoner Scott Jurek was issued three summonses for actions against Baxter State Park rules — littering, bringing champagne to the top of Mount Katahdin and hiking in an oversized group — after hiking the entire Appalachian Trail faster than anyone ever had.
In the wake of that incident, sides were drawn. Park purists say the summonses were deserved. Others say the park was heavy-handed — and acted like a bunch of party poopers.
Who’s right depends on which side of the peak you’re sitting on.
Perhaps more important, what would Percival Baxter — the former governor who purchased the land that became a state park — have to say about “corporate events” on the peak (and in the park) that he gave to the citizens of Maine?
Baxter died in 1969, so he can’t tell us. But one man who regularly spoke with the governor and who spent 46 years working in and preserving the people’s park said he’s sure Baxter would have written the summonses himself, had he been available.
Buzz Caverly spent the final 24 years of his career as the Baxter State Park director. He met Baxter as a fledgling ranger and instantly was impressed. Today, at the age of 76, a photo of Baxter (and Katahdin) is placed in a position of honor over the Caverly family dinner table.
“He would be pleased with the actions that the rangers and the park took, and he would be disturbed that people might want to take a group up and have an impact on others who love nature and wanted to walk up [the mountain] as well,” Caverly said.
Baxter isn’t like many other parks, you see. And that’s the way Gov. Baxter wanted it.
He bought 28 parcels of land over a 32-year period. When he donated that land to the state, he did so with very specific provisions of use that have been followed by park directors and the governing Baxter State Park Authority ever since.
Baxter was steadfast in his belief that the park should be kept in a “forever wild” state.
Caverly said that, while respecting Baxter’s wishes, even while society changes, park officials have remained true to the governor’s wishes. And he admits that some people might not understand why the park is operated the way it is.
“There’s sort of a territorial attitude [among some park visitors] because they don’t know the trusts, they don’t know the mandate,” Caverly said.
That mandate came from Baxter himself, Caverly said, and was a guiding principle for him and other park officials.
“[The mandate is], ‘Recreation is secondary to preservation,’” Caverly said. “That’s hard for somebody that is really serious about recreation, [who might say], ‘Well, how are you going to preserve Katahdin? That pile of rocks is always going to be here. And I’m going to take a hundred camera people and go to the top and pop a champagne bottle and put it on all the TV stations in Maine.’”
Among Jurek’s missteps, according to park officials: cork-popping atop Katahdin. Alcohol on the trails isn’t permitted. When the bubbly fell to the ground during the celebration, rangers considered it littering.
Caverly also maintains that one person’s enjoyment of the park’s resources shouldn’t infringe upon anyone else’s. And while some bystanders may have enjoyed watching as Jurek made history, others may have felt that their Katahdin experience had been sullied.
“[The Jurek party was] maybe not even thinking of depriving individuals that worked eight or 10 hours to get up there, which has been a life achievement for some,” Caverly said. “[And then another group] has dominated Baxter Peak to the point that some individuals who might be a little bit lower profile don’t [have the experience they sought].”
Caverly admits he wasn’t always as rigid in his interpretation of Baxter’s vision. As a young ranger, he may have been more recreation minded than preservation centric. And he admits he began gaining maturity he lacked when he was demoted from “acting supervisor” after just a few months of service in 1968.
That incident, he said, helped him realize that if he wanted to lead the park staff in the future, he’d have to change the way he operated. Fully absorbing Baxter’s vision and adopting it as his own was the key.
He also said that a visit to Baxter’s Portland office early in his ranger career put him on the trail he followed for the rest of his career: He became a man devoted to earning the trust Baxter had put in the people of Maine. He had met Baxter before, during the governor’s tours of the park, and Baxter had invited him and other rangers to visit him if they ever found themselves in Portland. Caverly thinks he was the only young ranger to take Baxter up on his invitation.
“That was the beginning of it,” Caverly said of that meeting. “That giant of a man was so kind to me, explained his commitment and why he had done it, and impressed upon me that the deeds of trust were going to be the primary tool that was going to protect the park for all generations.”
That and the Baxter State Park Authority, which would include just three members: the attorney general, the head of the Maine Forest Service and the commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
“By putting that team together, he was confident that they would not break faith with his trust,” Caverly said.
For decades, Baxter officials haven’t, Caverly will tell you. Even when it would have been easier to look the other way when an oversized group headed up Maine’s highest peak. Even when others might think that popping a cork and spilling champagne after a grueling thru-hike makes perfect sense.
Several years ago, Caverly found a way to adequately sum up what makes Baxter State Park special.
“Nature at peace,” he calls it. “This park will just touch everybody. If you get yourself into a position where you’re on a mountain or on the shore of a pond or along a brook, it’s such a peaceful place.”
And Caverly said there’s not a day that goes by when he isn’t thinking about the park and the job he retired from a decade ago. He counts himself among those who’ve kept Baxter’s trust — and thinks others have, too.
“Overall, the trusts are clear, and as long as the [Baxter State Park] Authority and staff members stay focused on that, the park will prevail,” he said. “And all indications, that’s what’s happening.”
John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.com or 990-8214. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnHolyoke.
