BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 21, 2023
The federal government has paused a plan to turn part of western Maine’s High Peaks region into a National Wildlife Refuge after pushback from residents and lawmakers who viewed the effort as encroaching on local autonomy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service floated the idea this past spring of using 5,000 to 15,000 acres of the High Peaks region around Rangeley for a new refuge after identifying the area that contains the largest expanse of high elevation in Maine as providing critical habitat for migratory birds and opportunities to research how species adapt to a changing climate. But a broad group of opponents (loggers, outdoors groups, Sugarloaf ski resort, Gov. Janet Mills, Maine’s congressional delegation, and state lawmakers from the region) worried they would lose access to and control of land, especially for ATV and snowmobile use.