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Congressman From Maine Trying To Block President From Designating A North Woods National Monument

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By Kurt Repanshek - December 5th, 2015

A congressman from Maine has introduced legislation aimed at preventing the president of the United States from designating a national monument in the Pine Tree State without approval from the state legislature and governor.

Rep. Bruce Poliquin last week introduced "Preserving States Rights," a two-page measure that succinctly states, "proclamations may be made only for national monuments that have been approved by the State legislature and governor of each state in which the monument would be located."

“Any process to incorporate federal land in Maine must have strong support from the local community,” said Congressman Poliquin in a press release.

The draft legislation is aimed at preventing President Obama from designating a "North Woods National Monument" if Congress won't endorse a national park on the land owned by Burts Bee founder Roxanne Quimby. 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.

Ms. 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. 

Last month U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, along with Rep. Poliquin, sent a letter (attached) to President Obama in which they raised "serious concerns" about the president using his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the land in question a national monument.

"Mainers have a long and proud history of private land ownership, independence, and local control, and do not take lightly any forced action by the federal government to increase its footprint in our state," the letter read.

Ironically, while Rep. Poliquin said he was driven to introduce the legislation because he believed there must be "strong local support" in favor of a national monument or park, a survey of his congressional district's voters showed 67 percent were in favor of a national park as was being proposed.

PDF icon letter_to_president_obama_11-20-15.pdf

Comments

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 7, 2015 - 7:04pm.

OK, this thread has degraded far enough to be shut down. Thanks for playing.


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