THE WILDLIFE NEWS • October 20, 2025
In 1992, I joined with forest activists to establish RESTORE the North Woods. One of our first efforts was advocating the creation of Maine Woods National Park. Though I had visited Maine numerous times, I had not had seen the new National Monument since it opened. This fall, I finally had a chance to visit. In northern Maine, over 10 million acres are almost completely uninhabited. Creating a large public holding is easier here than in other areas because there are no towns to displace. In the late 1990s, a chance meeting between Jym St Pierre and Roxanne Quimby — then the owner of the Burt’s Bees company — led to a plan to acquire lands for a national park unit in Maine. There was initial opposition, but Roxanne, along with her son Lucas St. Clair, acquired 87,500 acres east of Baxter State Park from willing sellers. In 2016, she donated her land. President Barack Obama accepted it, and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument was born. Given initial vocal opposition, it is encouraging that the state is now promoting the park. It as a work in progress. Over time, the forests will acquire old-growth characteristics. We can witness restoration happening right before our eyes. RESTORE hopes additional purchases or donations of land over time could eventually lead to a much larger national park unit in the Maine Woods.