%2c_by_Hinds%2c_A._L.%2c_fl._1870-1879.jpg)
TheNorth Maine Woods is the northern geographic area of the state ofMaine in theUnited States. The thinly populated region is overseen by a combination of private individual and private industrial owners and state government agencies, and is divided into 155 unincorporated townships within the NMW management area.[1] There are no towns or paved roads.[2]
The region covers more than 3.5 million acres (14,000 km2) of forest land bordered byCanada to the west and north and by the early 20th century transportation corridors of theCanadian PacificInternational Railway of Maine to the south and theBangor and Aroostook Railroad Ashland branch to the east. It includes westernAroostook and northernSomerset,Penobscot, andPiscataquis counties.[3] Much of the woods are currently owned by timber corporations, includingSeven Islands Land Company, Plum Creek,Maibec, Orion Timberlands andJ. D. Irving. Ownership changes hands quite frequently and is often difficult to determine.[citation needed]
Its main products are timber for pulp and lumber, and the area is used for hunting and outdoor recreation.
Included within its boundaries are twowild rivers of the Northeastern United States: theSaint John and theAllagash. The North Maine Woods completely surrounds theAllagash Wilderness Waterway.
Early European settlement ofNew England andAtlantic Canada was along theAtlantic coast. Some of these newcomers focused on fishing and shipbuilding while others cleared forests for conversion to farmland. Trees from the cleared forests provided lumber for homes, barns, and ships to support the fishing industry and European trade. As the coastal forests were cleared, settlers moved inland along the major rivers from theHudson River north to theSaint Lawrence River. Early interior settlers spent the short summers growing food and the long winters cutting trees.[4] Logs in excess of those needed to build farming structures could befloated downstream and sold to sawmills.[5] Cities likeBangor, Maine, on thePenobscot River andSaint John, New Brunswick, on the Saint John River developed at the head of navigation where sawmills converted logs to lumber and shipyards converted lumber to ships.[6]
Prior to invention of railroads, industrial investment in these cities depended upon anticipated forest resources available to be floated down river. Competition for upper Saint John River watershed forests developed in the 1830s when Bangor interests purchased land containing headwaters lakes and alteredChamberlain Lake to drain into the Penobscot River.[7] This competition was resolved by theWebster–Ashburton Treaty giving Maine control of what became the North Maine Woods.
The North Maine Woods are part of theNew England-Acadian forestsecoregion.[8] They are predominantly forestland consisting of mixed northern hardwoods and conifers, much of it artificially planted after harvesting by the various landowners. The major tree species arebalsam fir,black spruce, andnorthern white cedar with smaller numbers ofwhite spruce,yellow birch,paper birch,quaking aspen,eastern white pine,speckled alder,eastern hemlock, andblack ash.[9]
The area is also home towhite-tailed deer,moose,black bears,bobcat,coyotes,red fox,fisher,otter,mink,marten,weasel,beavers,porcupine,muskrat,red squirrel, andsnowshoe hare.[10]
Common birds includeolive-sided flycatcher,white-throated sparrow,wood duck,common yellowthroat,spotted sandpiper,red-eyed vireo,American robin,common loon,belted kingfisher,bufflehead,least flycatcher,yellow-billed cuckoo,wood thrush,common merganser,black-capped chickadee,Canada jay,ruffed grouse, andspruce grouse.[11]
There are official hunting seasons for the grouse, deer and bears, with a state-run lottery system for awarding moose-hunting licences. Char, includingsquaretail,togue, and isolated populations ofblueback trout are the best known fish of the rivers and lakes. TheMuskellunge is a non-native fish that has spread throughout the Saint Johns River watershed.[12]Black fly,mosquito,deer fly, andmidge populations can be significant from late spring through early autumn. The Maine North Woods are also home to the endangeredCanada lynx,bald eagle and theFurbish lousewort, a rare plant that is found only in the Saint John River Valley. Animals that have disappeared from the woods during European settlement includecaribou andgray wolf.
Early 19th century logging of the North Maine woods employed nativeMaliseet, English settlers from the Atlantic coast,French Canadians from theSaint Lawrence River valley, and some unskilled laborers recruited from large eastern cities. Unique mythology evolved in the remote logging camps fromhazing new employees or attempts by competing groups to dominate the resource extraction labor market. Two birds held special significance. The relatively tame gray jays would follow loggers through the woods in the hope of stealing unwatched food but were not harmed because they were believed to be the spirits of deceased woodsmen. Some French Canadians would quit work if a whiteowl was seen flying from a tree they were felling, for they believed it was a ghost who would haunt them unless they left that part of the woods.
Mythical creatures of the north woods:[13]
On August 24, 2016, President Obama signed anexecutive order designating 87,000 acres (350 km2) to the east ofBaxter State Park as theKatahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.[14] The previous dayRoxanne Quimby transferred that land to theU.S. Department of the Interior.[15]
The move followed a long debate about whether and how to preserve parts of the North Maine Woods.
Americans for a Maine Woods National Park, an interest group that includes scientists, educators, environmentalists and celebrities, has long pushed to turn as much as 3.2 million acres (13,000 km2) into a national park.[16] The proposed park is controversial among residents within or adjacent to the park's proposed borders. Many fear the dislocation of traditional industries and recreational activities as a result of a park's creation. The County Commissions from Aroostook, Piscataquis, and Somerset have voted to oppose efforts to create a park. A local group, the Maine Woods Coalition, was organized to oppose the effort.[17] As of 2022, no further action has been taken by theUnited States Congress on this matter.
Maine's congressional delegation, with the exception ofDemocratic Rep.Chellie Pingree who represents southern Maine, have in the past expressed "serious reservations" about executive action to create a national monument.[18] Former Gov.Paul LePage has expressed strong opposition to the idea, and has proposed legislation to attempt to block the transfer of land to the federal government for a national monument.[19] LePage has also ordered the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands to re-establish and maintain access to approximately 2,500 acres (10 km2) of state-owned land within a proposed park. Supporters of a park, while conceding the state has a right to access its land, criticized the move as an effort to interfere with private landowners deciding what to do with their land.[20]
North Maine Woods is the setting for the 2020 filmBlood and Money.[citation needed]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Augusta (capital) | |
| Topics | |
| Society | |
| Regions | |
| Metropolitan areas | |
| Counties | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
