(Bad Read Alert) National monument not right for rural Maine- by Paul LePage

[jpak]

https://bangordailynews.com/2016/06/06/opinion/contributors/national-monument-not-right-for-rural-maine/

Last month, when U.S. Sen. Angus King brought the national park director to Orono, King had the support of the powerful environmental interest group, the Natural Resource Council of Maine. In fact, NRCM and other environmental advocacy groups coordinated attendance at the meeting and paid to transport six busloads of supporters from across Maine to the meeting. They even rented parking spaces for supporters of the monument.

Of course, when you “follow the money,” this is no big surprise: These groups receive plenty of “operating support” from Roxanne Quimby’s nonprofit that is holding the property in question. In fact, NRCM alone received $75,000 in one year from Elliotsville Plantation Inc.

Lucas St. Clair, who is the Elliotsville Plantation Inc. frontman and son of Roxanne Quimby, also was prompted at King’s meeting to “present the facts” of the proposal, as it was described in a news release from King’s office. Dan Sakura of the National Park Foundation was invited to discuss how the foundation intends to financially support the proposal.

The wealthy Quimby family has spent more than $1 million at Hilltop Public Solutions in Washington, D.C., to convince President Barack Obama to use his authority to designate this area a national monument. At the same time, the National Park Service already has a $12 billion backlog in maintenance work at national parks. Wildfires in western states on federal land owned by the National Park Service are the result of poor management of the forest. We cannot risk that kind of environmental disaster in Maine.

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[SwankyXomb]

1. When he says "poor management of the forest"

he really means "allow unlimited logging", doesn't he?