LePage asks Trump 'to make Maine woods great again'
Source: Associated Press
LePage asks Trump 'to make Maine woods great again'
Feb. 22, 2017 5:05 PM EST
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The governor has asked Republican President Donald Trump to undo Democratic former President Barack Obama's designation of a national monument and give back the land that was donated for it.
Republican Gov. Paul LePage asked Trump to take the unprecedented step of returning land in the northern part of the state to private ownership in a Feb. 14 letter.
Burt's Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby's foundation last August donated 87,000 acres to the federal government for the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine's North Woods. Burt's Bees is a personal care products company that calls itself "Earth friendly" and says it has a triple bottom line: people, profit, planet.
LePage said if the land remains a federal monument the state should manage it to avoid economic damage and protect traditional recreational use of it. He said he hopes Trump will create jobs and "make the Maine woods great again."
The monument's creation was opposed by state lawmakers and critics who said they feared it would hinder efforts to rebuild a forest-based economy in the region. But supporters, including local businesses and environmental groups, have said the appeal of a national monument would help revitalize a struggling though lovely rural area.
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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c6057bf9620f44b1bb1652747cd11081/lepage-asks-trump-make-maine-woods-great-again
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