While I think it could be great for the Millinocket economy, it would be bad for the resource. More vehicles, paved roads, and increased visitation to Baxter could be detrimental. While I wish everyone could experience the Maine wilderness, I think the National Park status would attract too many people and lead to more development to accommodate them.

Baxter already limits access to Katahdin. The park doesn’t advertise and prioritizes wilderness over recreation. Imagine next door to the park a big paved road with caravans of huge RVs and an upscale restaurant/hotel in the middle of the woods. While there’s nothing wrong with those things it wouldn’t be the North Maine Woods anymore.

I recently visited Death Valley NP and it’s an amazing place. However, in the middle of this extreme environment there’s a resort and golf course. It just seemed like a testament to human arrogance. “Hottest, driest place on earth, let’s build a golf course cause we can!”

Apparently, this NP is not likely to happen so I can rest easy. Maybe a national forest could be a good alternative. Many national forests still allow logging and hunting but could prevent further development. It would still be handing control to Washington and I’m not sure that would be a good move.