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Bruce Poliquin Sets Up Additional Hearing on National Monument Proposal

C. Schmitt via the Natural Resources Council of Maine
Land in Maine's North Woods under consideration for designation as a national monument.

The Republican chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources announced Wednesday that he will hold a congressional field hearing on the national monument proposed for the Katahdin region.

The hearing will be held at the East Millinocket Town Office on June 1 at the request of 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, and its announcement comes just two days after lengthy public meetings were held in East Millinocket and Orono on the plan.

The congressional field hearing is being billed as “Elevating Local Voices and Promoting Transparency for a Potential Monument Designation in Maine.” But Poliquin says it’s not clear that members of the public will be allowed to testify. Instead, speakers will be invited to participate.

“And I can tell you this — we’re sure some will represent our recreational jobs in the state of Maine like the snowmobiling folks, some will represent our loggers or our truckers. Some folks will represent those in the wood products industries,” he says.

On Monday, independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine moderated a three-hour meeting with town councilors in the Katahdin region and members of the public. National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis answered their questions and heard their concerns. The two then traveled to Orono for an even larger hearing on the proposal at the University of Maine, where more than 1,000 people turned out to speak for and against the plan.

Click to expand this map of the proposed North Woods national monument.

“I think it’s unfortunate that Rep. Poliquin has decided to hold a field hearing in opposition to a $100 million investment in the Katahdin region that would create hundreds of jobs,” says David Farmer, a spokesman for Elliotsville Plantation Inc., the foundation that has proposed donating nearly 90,000 acres east of Baxter State Park to the federal government along with $40 million to maintain the parcel.

Farmer points out that Poliquin, whose district includes the Katahdin region, has not proposed holding field hearings on any of the economic challenges facing the area.

“I mean five paper mills have closed. We have seen the state have to spend millions of dollars to help a struggling biomass industry and we’ve had to transfer additional dollars into rural school systems because the economy is struggling,” he says.

Farmer says the hearing appears designed more as a show to elevate the status of Poliquin, who is running for re-election this year.

Designation of a national monument does not require congressional input or approval. Instead, it’s something the president can do by proclamation and often on the advice of Jarvis, who sees the Katahdin land as valuable.

“The Park Service has three criteria when we think about new units of the national park system. That’s suitability, feasibility and significance. And this particular property meets all three of those criteria quite well,” he says.

Speaking with reporters in East Millinocket Monday, Jarvis said hearing from the public is not a legal requirement under the president’s executive power but it is a policy of the National Park Service, which is why he made the trip to Maine this week. He says he’s now taking all the comments he heard under advisement.

But Poliquin says he wants the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources to hear from local experts.

“We’re bringing him up to make sure that the people of Maine most affected, the people in the local Katahdin area, have their questions answered and can also express themselves to the individual who has the most experience in Congress dealing with this issue,” he says.

A spokesman for King says his boss “welcomes this continued dialogue about the proposal and hopes that Congressman Poliquin and the Committee have an open and productive discussion like the ones he had earlier this week.”

A spokeswoman for the committee says the hearing will last between one and two hours on June 1.