|
|
|
To the Editor; Recently, the Associated Press found it necessary to perpetuate the mis-guided dream of a wealthy Quixotic landowner to create a federal-owned National Park in Northern Maine not by force of public will, but by the power of her own checkbook.Perhaps the AP writers find Ms. Quimby's efforts whimsical and therefore of public interest.Regardless of their motives, they have told the world about Roxanne's plans to develop a visitor's center in Monson, Maine for her proposed National Park.How unfortunate that others view the communities and the economy of the North Maine Woods as in need of saving by a National Park, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Why is a National Park in Northern Maine a bad idea?Where do we begin…first, all of the recreational opportunities of a National Park and MORE are already available and used each season.A national park would severely limit snowmobiling in Somerset, Piscataquis, Penobscot and parts of Aroostook Counties.Snowmobiling brings over $300 million in sales tax revenue to the State of Maine each winter, the majority of which originates in this four-county area.If snow-shoeing and mountain climbing become the only allowed alternative to snowmobiling, places like Greenville are in trouble.I've gone mountain climbing in the North Maine Woods in February, and despite seeing lots of snowmobiles, I think I was the only one out there foolish enough seeking to "bag a peak".The $4.99 I spent on coffee and hand-warmers at the Kokadjo Trading Post pales in comparison to the thousands of dollars spent by snowmobilers each winter there, buying fuel and food. Our current and future economic base would be compromised by the creation of a National Park.There are over 883 workers currently employed in wood products manufacturing firms in PiscataquisCounty from Brownville to Dover-Foxcroft to Greenville.According to 1998 Maine Department of Labor statistics, there are a total of 5,829 workers in PiscataquisCounty.How will a National Park improve our economy when over 15% of our workforce would be placed out of work?Add in the truck drivers, the wood cutters, the mechanics, the diesel fuel delivery drivers, the saw shops and logging equipment suppliers, and you easily exceed the 1,700 mark.Moreover, the largest recent and pending industrial investments in our region are in the wood products trades.The proposed investments in Pleasant River Lumber in Dover-Foxcroft and Maine Lumber in Greenville, estimated to occur within the next 12 months, total over $30 million in private funds and will likely create a total of nearly 100 new jobs.At the same time, Ames Department Store in Dover-Foxcroft is going out of business.The service economy will always be an integral part of our region, but the backbone of our current and future economy remains in the wood products field.It was said best at Forest Heritage Days this year: "the Forest Products industry is alive and well and living in Maine". The future of the wood products industry is also bright, thanks to an on-going effort by the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council and the Town of Greenville and the newly-formed Piscataquis Properties Corporation to develop a WoodCompositesBusinessIncubatorCenter in Greenville by the end of 2003.The Wood Composites Incubator will be the next evolutionary step for the world-class Advanced Wood Structures laboratory located at the University of Maine in Orono.Entrepreneurs in this field, having developed concepts at the University, will be able to rent factory space at the incubator – located in Greenville near to the North Maine Woods, a major railroad, and also a bio-mass electrical generation plant – to start their new business.Indeed, entrepreneurs are already interested in occupying the proposed center even before it is constructed.New ways to create necessary building products, utilizing low-grade timber and waste products from other wood products operations, will be actualized at this new incubator center.The potential loss of 3.2 million acres of productive timberland through the creation of a national park would ruin all of these prospects. PiscataquisCounty is the most sparsely-populated county in Maine.There are far more unorganized territories (UT) than organized municipalities in this county.As a result, the largest source of property tax value in PiscataquisCounty is the UT property value.Should a National Park be created, all of that property tax value would disappear as the land became tax exempt.Payments In Lieu Of Tax (PILOTs) would be minimal as compared to the current tax value and subsequent revenue.At last measure, federal PILOTs were to the tune of 46% of original value.Organized municipalities would see a drastic and immediate spike in county taxes as these revenues dried up. For all of these reasons and more, Ms. Quimby's plans for a Proposed National Park Visitor's Center are as poor and unwanted as a national park would be itself.She has spent over $8 million on land purchases to that end alone.I can think of better ways to spend that amount of money to encourage the northern Maine economy.Ms. Quimby's plans for a National Park would destroy our local economy and our local way of life.I want my children to not only enjoy the woods as they grow up, but to also have the opportunity to be a part of a healthy and vibrant community with a strong, diversified economy.A NorthernMaineNational Park would take that possibility away from my children.The last thing we should ever be asked to do is to celebrate those very destructive plans by creating a visitor's center.If you want to restore something, Ms. Quimby, then restore your integrity by stopping your efforts to destroy our way of life, by closing your checkbook, and by going home. Sincerely; John Simko |