Katahdin Woods and Waters - 3

There is a canoe put-in at Whetstone Falls. We spoke to a pair of canoeists. They had spent some time exploring the east branch of the Penobscot River in the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The weather has been unusually dry. The river was low. The canoeists stated that "portages are overrated."

We asked how they came to be here. The national news reports had piqued their interest. After some online research, here they were, all the way from New Jersey, to check it out. 

We exited loop at about 2:30 pm and arrived back in Millinocket at 3:45. 

The economy of northern Maine has been hard-hit in the past fifteen or more years. Nothing has replaced the great paper mill economy. 

Longing for that bygone era, some local residents have been resistant to any change. What would anyone want with all that land, anyway? Why not just leave it as it was?

The local residents have had special access to the paper mill lands for decades, even generations. With the paper mills struggling or gone altogether, their once-vast land holdings have passed on to others. 

If there is nothing up there, then why get upset about preserving the land? Yes, they might lose their personal, private access to some of the so-called "junk" land.

Because of these issues, you will see some negative signage along the way. The local residents have already lost the battle and likely the war against this change. But they aren't going down without saying their piece.

Much of the Katahdin Woods and Waters land abuts Maine's other treasured wilderness, Baxter State Park. Percival Baxter bequeathed it to the state, "forever wild." Will the federal government eventually acquire that and make one huge wilderness park in northern Maine?

Only time will tell.