Agreed. I am not opposed to it becoming an officially protected piece of land, but the NPS is the wrong department for managing that. They have too much emphasis on unlimited access.

I took a trip out west last year and really soured on the ideal of the national park system. That sounds dramatic, but the crowds of people really detracted from the experience. It was like resort skiing the west on a weekend. Just jam packed with people, even on trails. It was shockingly bad in some places, and the NPS needs to figure out a way to restrict the number of visitors meaningfully.

I grew up going to Moosehead and Baxter. I’ve been seeing an uptick in tourists for awhile, and frankly I want them to stay on the coast. When I was a kid you could hike Kineo Big Moose, or Borestone and be nearly the only one on the trail. It’s still pretty quiet, but everyone is an out of stater. Not that that is wrong, it just detracts from the experience as a resident. There are still hikes in that region where you will be the only group on the trail though. Especially on the non katahdin hikes in Baxter and the few hikes between Greenville and Baxter.

This will be the most controversial part of this, but I understand the wealthy Mass resident urge to privatize everything. When you’re bombarded by people your only chance at securing peace and quiet is to force them to go away.