You throw "National" in front of park and the crowds will come. Of course there are some exceptions like Gates of the Artic and Isle Royale, but those parks are a real pain in the ass to get to. It would probably cause a drastic increase in visitors to Baxter since it would be surrounded by the new national park. Good luck getting an opportunity to hike Katahdin then.

The area is so remote that I don't see it needing protection. There's no jobs up there and little in the way of infrastructure to accommodate lots of growth. The woods have already been logged for the most part, so it's not exactly old growth forest we're talking about protecting here. I personally don't like the idea, but if it happens, it happens.

I think it's a bad idea. Right now the vast majority of the tourists go to Acadia National Park and leave the rest of the states wild areas relatively peaceful for the rest of us. If this area becomes a national park, it will get very crowded very quickly and ruin the sense of wilderness. The only upside would be a revitalization for towns like Millinocket, which would likely occur with increasing tourism.

I went on a vacation to Quebec City and took 201. It's a beautiful drive once you get north of Solon.

Many lists of states by tax burden have Maine listed as #3; refer to the link below. Then you have taxes like vehicle excise tax, which many states do not have. The average new car costs about $48k as of July 2022. With Maine's excise tax you'll be paying an additional $3600 in the first six years, and that's on top of the sales tax paid.

The other big issue is the tax brackets. If you as an individual made more than $54k in 2022, you are in the highest tax bracket of 7.15%. In Southern Maine an income of $54k is not much given cost of living. The average one bedroom apartment has a rent of just about $1800/month in Portland in fall 2022 according to the Bangor Daily News. That comes out to $21,600/year just in rent. At a gross income of $54k/year you'll be spending 40% of your income on rent. Generally they say rent should be no more than 30% of gross income. Explain to me why the state should be taxing someone in the highest tax bracket that can't even afford to keep rent at at less than 30% their annual income. Maine really needs to update their tax brackets because it currently acts like middle class people are going home and jumping into pools of money like Scrooge McDuck.

It gets better though. The state has now decided that regardless of income or wealth, the boomers and silent generation can freeze their property taxes if they've owned a home in Maine for 10 or more years. At some point the state will need to raise taxes on the younger generations to pay for that freeze or start cutting services.

Forbes List

The pay in Maine is garbage for the COL in the southern part of the state. You add Maine's exceedingly high taxes to the mix, and it's no surprise young people are leaving. Employers in Maine need to pay more, and the state needs to reduce taxes for the younger generations if they want to develop a better economy.