MILLINOCKET, Maine — With President Donald Trump targeting northern Maine’s national monument, Katahdin-area leaders who fiercely opposed its creation now say they want to keep it.
Nineteen officials representing towns near the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument wrote Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke asking him to do “everything in your power to ensure that this monument is a success,” as Zinke’s agency reviews whether President Barack Obama followed the law in creating it.
At least two officials who signed — Millinocket Town Council member Jesse Dumais and Rep. Steve Stanley, D-Medway — previously opposed the monument. Stanley in 2016 sponsored a bill that would have barred landowners from donating land for monuments.
[MORE: Maine’s national monument is among the 27 that feds will review]
The letter appeared to be the strongest signal yet that the monument is winning over critics, even as the issue reaches the highest levels of the federal government.
“We understand that there are some who have talked of rescinding the designation of this monument. We encourage you to reject that idea,” the one-page letter, dated Friday, states.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Former critics sign letter asking to preserve Maine’s monument,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Nick Sambides Jr., please follow this link to the BDN online.
