Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday that big out-of-state interests are behind plans to create a national monument east of Baxter State Park.

In an interview with WVOM-FM, the Republican governor also called the campaign an “ego booster” for landowner and Burt’s Bees founder Roxanne Quimby.

Quimby wants to establish a $40 million endowment and donate 87,500 acres of private land east of Baxter State Park to the federal government. Her foundation hopes to create a national monument and eventually a national park.

The president can designate national monuments through an executive order. The head of the national park service was in Maine this month to hear public comments.

The governor said the Natural Resource Council of Maine and Sierra Club Maine bused in southern Mainers to a May 16 forum in Orono. LePage claimed on the radio that “henchmen” searched people’s purses and didn’t allow opponents to park in spots designated for supporters.

David Farmer, a spokesman for Quimby, said fewer than 200 of the 1,200 attendees arrived on buses.

Farmer said LePage’s other allegations are false. Security professionals prevented signs, food and computers from being brought inside the event. He said there was plenty of parking for all attendees.

LePage criticized the Natural Resources Council of Maine for supporting the proposal, saying big foundations from around the country are supporting the organization and “keeping Maine people poor.”

He added that the Natural Resource Council “in particular is doing everything it can to oppose jobs in Maine.”

Lisa Pohlmann, the group’s executive director, called LePage’s comments “total nonsense” and said the 57-year-old organization has thousands of Maine members.

Pohlmann said hundreds of Katahdin region residents support the proposed monument because it will protect the land while helping to rebuild an economy hit by the loss of several paper mills.

Opponents, meanwhile, have expressed concerns about restrictions on logging and recreational activities like hunting or fishing.

LePage on Tuesday said it would be years until a new national park “ever achieves the status” of Acadia National Park, and added that the federal government is billions of dollars behind in national park maintenance.

The governor added: “If you look around the country where the major forest fires come, they come from federal land.”

Much of the 640 million acres of land owned by the federal government is in drought-stricken Western states.

A House congressional committee on June 1 will hear from residents at the East Millinocket town office. U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, requested the field hearing.

Copy the Story Link