The Maine Woods is the largest remaining wildland in the eastern United States. This region is home to extraordinary scenery, great biodiversity, critical wildlife habitat, and countless recreational opportunities. This area was long used by the logging industry, but this industry has collapsed, creating difficult economic times in the surrounding communities.
Pressure continues to mount to once again develop the land for loggin, homes, resorts, and other unsustainable economic activities. The creation of a Maine Woods National Park, this flora and fauna of this region will be protected for all eternity. Additionally, the surrounding communities will experience a large economic boost that will sustain them into the future.
The creation of a Maine Woods National Park could not come at a more critical time. The proposed 3.2 million acre park will create a large wilderness park common in the western United States that will now be within easy access of the large population centers of the Northeast.
Please support this park and do everything you can to help it be created.
We the undersigned support the creation of a Maine Woods National Park that will protect for perpetuity the plants, animals, scenery, economies, and communities of the largest wildland in the eastern United States.
This is a great opportunity in conservation that will benefit people and wildlife alike. The Maine Woods is the largest area of undeveloped wild lands in the eastern United States. The region is home to a great diversity of plant and animals species, such as the endangered Canada lynx. The scenery here is some of that which our nation is so well known for. A National Park will provide the protection that this region vitally needs.
The Maine Woods has gone mostly unprotected for centuries, due largely to its value to the logging industry. This industry is now only a small remnant of its past forms and many small communities have been experiencing very difficult economic times for decades. These communities could desperately use an economic boost. National Parks have been shown to provide a sustainable economic lift to small towns across the country, and will undoubtedly do the same in Maine.
Across the western United States, there are large National Parks with vast open spaces and wilderness areas. No such park exists in East. A Maine Woods National Park would provide the experience of a western park to the people who live in population centers of the Northeast. Furthermore, the creation of a Maine Woods National Park would be a great way to celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service, which will be in 2016.
Some of the land in the Maine Woods has already been protected by different organizations and agencies, but much remains unprotected and open to unsustainable development. A National Park is needed to unite this land in a single organization so that it, along with its plants, animals, communities, and economies, may be adequately protected forever.
