Post-hike reflections on Katahdin region's economy
I had a lot of time to think as I completed an 11-mile hike up and down Katahdin in Baxter State Park with my 26-year-old son, Nick, in mid-August. None of it had anything to do with the Katahdin region's economic challenges. That came later.
Most of my free-association thinking took place on the initial leg of the Hunt Trail, which follows Katahdin Stream in a gentle three-mile ascent to tree line. As any hiker knows, the mind's movie reel quickly and easily becomes an endless string of disconnected thoughts when all you really have to be thinking about is putting one foot safely in front of the other.
At the tree line, day-dreaming gave way to a Zen-like focus on selecting the best hand grips and footholds in a physically challenging boulder scramble that eventually elevated us to Katahdin's rock-strewn tablelands. There, Nick and I relished 360-degree views of mountains, lakes and dense woods as far as the eye can see, as well as macro views of tiny alpine wildflowers trembling in rocky nooks and crannies.
I felt awe — and gratitude for Gov. Percival Baxter's generous gift to the people of Maine, completed in 1962.
Hours later, arriving at Roaring Brook Campground well after nightfall, gratitude extended to my shaky knees for getting me there.
The next day, after an invigorating if not completely restorative swim at Togue Pond, I started thinking about our weekend camping adventure in the broader context of the Katahdin region's economy.
En route to the park's entrance, we'd driven past the shuttered Great Northern paper mill in East Millinocket, which closed for good in February 2014, ending a 110-year era of papermaking in the Katahdin region. As Springsteen aptly puts it, “Foreman says these jobs are going, boys, and they ain't coming back.” Time will tell if a proposed wood chip manufacturing plant in Millinocket will replace some of those lost jobs.
That leaves tourism as the Katahdin region's primary life preserver at the moment. But local resistance to a Maine North Woods national park remains strong. I also know that life preservers are short-term solutions, unsustainable as vessels for long-term voyages. And I'm unsure whether the park idea can be more than a life preserver for a region desperately needing sustainable good-paying jobs.
Sitting in the Appalachian Trail Café in downtown Millinocket (a hearty lunch for three, $45), I did some quick math on the other local spending we'd done during our weekend excursion to Baxter State Park: Gas for our Prius: $25. Screening for makeshift mosquito barrier for our lean-to: $35 at Levasseur's True Value Hardware. Hiking poles: $40 at North Woods Trading Post. Adjustable LED flashlight: $32 at Two Rivers Canoe & Tackle in Medway. All told, nearly $200 for three days in the Katahdin region. A life preserver, at best.
Would we spend more money and time in the Katahdin region if Roxanne Quimby and her son Lucas St. Clair succeed in creating a Maine North Woods national park as an added attraction to Baxter State Park? Maybe.
What gives me pause is the reality check provided by Bowdoin College economics professor David Vail's essay, “Tourism Strategy for the Maine Woods: A Big Push to World Class,” published in Maine Policy Review in 2007. “It is sobering to note that none of the state's top dozen destinations is in the Northern Forest region,” Vail writes. “The greatest challenge, I believe, is that the Northern Forest's current mix of natural, cultural and hospitality assets is not sufficiently unique, outstanding or networked to draw large marketable overnight visitors.”
Vail acknowledges initiatives such as Maine Huts & Trails and the Appalachian Mountain Club's Maine Woods Initiative hold promise as “little nudges” to advance the Maine North Woods as a world-class destination. But without a “big push,” he wonders if they'll be enough to significantly boost interior Maine's standing to that level.
Eight years later, Vail's musing remains a valid question.
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