Burt’s Bees Founder Donates Maine Land for Preservation

President Barack Obama has declared a new national monument in ME on 87,000 acres of scenic woodlands donated by the founder of Burt’s Bees. It also detailed the area’s significance to Native Americans, the timber industry, sportsmen, artists and authors like Henry David Thoreau, as well as its varied geology, biodiversity and scenery.

The woodlands were donated by the founder of Burt’s Bees.

“As the National Park Service begins a second century of conservation this week, the president’s designation of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument serves as an inspiration to reflect on America’s iconic landscapes and historical and cultural treasures”, said Jewell.

While organizations such as the Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce hope it will lure more tourists and create jobs, opponents warned it could further destabilize a forest products industry struggling to rebound from the closure of the Millinocket and East Millinocket paper mills. Our national parks, forests and other public lands attract visitors from all over the world, fueling local economies and supporting an estimated $646 billion economy. Mr. King’s position evolved, however, and he said he was open to exploring the idea.

This spring, Maine’s legislature passed a symbolic bill saying the legislature didn’t consent to the federal government acquiring the land.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage called the proposal an “ego play”.

Ms. Quimby’s son, Lucas St. Clair, who’s marshaled the effort, brushed aside the criticism Wednesday. The governor and legislature opposed it, and Maine’s congressional delegation refused to introduce the measure necessary to create a national park, which requires an act of Congress. “But when we look to the future, we see huge amounts of success”, St. Clair told The Associated Press. Hunting and snowmobiling – two so-called “traditional uses” that are important to the year-round local economy – will apparently be allowed on some but not all of the 87,654 acres. The deeds also allow the creation of recreational trail corridors, kiosks and signs on the property.

The designation is a major victory for Quimby and her son, Lucas St. Clair, who a year ago shifted the family’s focus toward protecting the land as a monument instead of a congressionally created national park. The Antiquities Act empowers the president to designate national monuments from public lands.

The Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument designation is the result of a years-long effort by the Quimby family.

It was established with a donation of land and tens of millions of dollars, all from Roxanne Quimby. Quimby valued the land at $60 million and provided an additional $20 million for an endowment.

The White House announced the president, using his Antiquities Act authority, designated 87,500 acres of land in north central ME as a national monument.

Not all of the details on the new North Woods national monument were available Wednesday morning.

The president’s announcement came a day after media reports that the foundation created by Quimby had transferred the land to federal ownership.

FILE – In this August 4, 2015 file photo, birch trees show signs of beaver activity on woodland proposed for a national park in Penobscot County, Maine. Burt’s Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby has been pushing for the designation for years.