MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • December 13, 2020
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument has received $380,000 from the Great American Outdoors Act to potentially acquire two tracts of private land whose owners had signaled a willingness to sell to the federal government before the monument’s creation four years ago. Tim Hudson, Katahdin Woods and Waters’ superintendent, said the money “showed up last Friday” and that negotiations would soon begin with the owners. He estimated that the two parcels – one located along the East Branch of the Penobscot River and the other a wooded parcel near Patten – encompass 3,000 to 4,000 acres and both include snowmobile trails used by wintertime visitors to the monument. Because the two parcels, which were previously owned by the Baskahegan Co., were referenced in the original proclamation and included within the boundary map, they will not require additional authorization.