A view of Mount Katahdin from the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in 2021. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

A bill that would expand road access to the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument from Millinocket cleared the U.S. Senate Wednesday night.

The legislation, proposed by U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, was approved by unanimous consent, according to the senator’s staff.

The bill would allow the National Park Service to acquire two parcels of land at the southern edge of the monument and existing road corridors from Millinocket to the park, including portions of Stacyville, Huber and Roberts roads.

Adding the 200- and 500-foot-wide corridors to the park would allow more people to experience Katahdin Woods and Waters more easily, King said in an emailed statement.

“The additional access roadways will also bring visitors closer to the heart of the Millinocket community and further expand the Katahdin region’s tourism economy,” King said.

The bill still needs House approval and the president’s signature to be enacted. If it doesn’t pass before the holidays end the current congressional session, King would have to resubmit the bill next year.

Expanded road access from Millinocket would be in addition to existing southern and northern entrance roads from Route 11 out of Medway, also known as Katahdin Woods and Waters National Scenic Byway.

Established in 2016, Katahdin Woods and Waters spans 87,563 acres of mountains and forests along the eastern border of Baxter State Park. It includes a section of the East Branch Penobscot River as well as the Tekαkαpimək Contact Station, a visitors center developed in collaboration with Wabanaki leaders that has yet to open to the public.

If approved, the park service could acquire land ownership or easements from willing donors or sellers to better connect the monument to the Millinocket region and major roads. Acquisition by eminent domain would be prohibited.

The bill has been pared down significantly since King introduced it two years ago, encompassing only 2,465 acres of 42,000 acres initially proposed.

The change was made at the request of stakeholders, including the Trust for Public Land, which owns most of the potential addition. The trust is separately working to transfer the balance of the adjacent land to the Penobscot Nation, as a working forest.

The bill also would allow the park service to acquire buildings for monument administration and visitor services outside of park boundaries. Those services wouldn’t conflict with the programs and services provided at Tekαkαpimək Contact Station, which would be accessible from the Millinocket entrance, King’s staff said.

The bill includes protections for forestry access rights and traditional hunting, fishing, collection of fiddleheads and other outdoor recreation activities on the acquired property.