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The Bangor Daily News has come out in favor of a new national park in Maine's Great North Woods/George Wuerthner

As debate continues over whether to create a national park in the North Woods of Maine, the state's leading newspaper has come out in favor of the proposal.

The original national park proposal of the 1990s was huge; more than 3 million acres, nearly a third of Maine'™s Great North Woods. It envisioned one of the country'™s largest national parks, larger by almost a third than Yellowstone National Park. This plan was not well-received. Opponents were especially critical of millionairess Roxanne Quimby, who was donating 150,000 acres of her own lands towards a park.

Quimby is co-founder of Burt'™s Bees, whose honey-based lip balm and other personal care products made her a millionaire many times over. After selling the company, she has applied her wealth to conserve Maine landscapes.

But now a smaller plan is seeing more support from the locals. The current Katahdin Woods and Waters National Park and National Recreation Area proposal is just 5 percent as large as the first plan, would offer a blend of allowed activities and, according to proponents, involve less than 1 percent of the state'™s timber resources.

Just two hours from coastal Acadia National Park, the proposed park abuts Baxter State Park and has spectacular views of Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

Quimby is prepared to donate 75,000 acres along the East Branch of the Penobscot River for the park, and another 75,000 acres for a national recreation area along its west bank. The national recreation area might help sooth local opinion as it could be open to hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling.

In an editorial last week, the Bangor Daily News got behind the park proposal, saying it was needed for the regional economy.

What the park offers is the prospect of needed investment that can play a part in ending the region’s economic stagnation.

National parks not only draw visitors, they attract residents. Nationally, areas surrounding national parks saw larger population gains between 1970 and 2010 than the United States as a whole — and certainly much more than rural Maine. These areas also outpaced the U.S. in income growth and employment gains.

Numerous studies show that people want to live in scenic places with ample recreational opportunities. This idea of amenity migration is not new. Arizona successfully marketed itself as a scenic and liveable destination in the 1950s. Florida and Southern California have done the same.

Rural Maine can make a similar bid, but people well beyond Maine must know these amenities exist. Including these lands in a national park will immediately increase their visibility and grow their appeal.

And, as history shows, the valleys and waterways east of Baxter State Park have significant appeal. The landscape inspired early conservationists including Henry David Thoreau and President Theodore Roosevelt. After visiting the area in 1846, and climbing Mount Katahdin, Thoreau called for the creation of “national preserves.”

“Why should not we, who have renounced the king’s authority, have our national preserves … for inspiration and our own true re-creation?” he wrote in “The Maine Woods.”

With the National Park Service's centennial next year, the editorial continued, 2016 would be the perfect year to create the new park.

We, and the majority of Mainers, believe the time has come for a national park and recreation area. That also means it’s time for congressional action to move the proposal forward. Rep. Chellie Pingree, long a park supporter, could introduce the needed legislation in the House; Rep. Bruce Poliquin should support it. In the Senate, a bill sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King would provide a strong endorsement of this worthy proposal. If no legislation is forthcoming, President Barack Obama can designate the area a national monument through an executive order.

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. This would be an ideal time to add a small part of Maine’s famed North Woods to a system with a globally unprecedented legacy of preservation.