Northern geographic area of the state of Maine
The
North Maine Woods
is the northern geographic area of the state of
Maine
in the
United 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 km
2
) of forest land bordered by
Canada
to the west and north and by the early 20th century transportation corridors of the
Canadian Pacific
International Railway of Maine
to the south and the
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad
Ashland branch to the east. It includes western
Aroostook
and northern
Somerset
,
Penobscot
, and
Piscataquis
counties.
[3]
Much of the woods are currently owned by timber corporations, including
Seven Islands Land Company
, Plum Creek,
Maibec
, Orion Timberlands and
J. 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 two
wild rivers
of the Northeastern United States: the
Saint John
and the
Allagash
. The North Maine Woods completely surrounds the
Allagash Wilderness Waterway
.
History
[
edit
]
Early European settlement of
New England
and
Atlantic Canada
was along the
Atlantic
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 the
Hudson River
north to the
Saint 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 be
floated downstream
and sold to sawmills.
[5]
Cities like
Bangor, Maine
, on the
Penobscot River
and
Saint 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 altered
Chamberlain Lake
to drain into the Penobscot River.
[7]
This competition was resolved by the
Webster?Ashburton Treaty
giving Maine control of what became the North Maine Woods.
Flora and fauna
[
edit
]
The North Maine Woods are part of the
New England-Acadian forests
ecoregion
.
[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 are
balsam fir
,
black spruce
, and
northern white cedar
with smaller numbers of
white spruce
,
yellow birch
,
paper birch
,
quaking aspen
,
eastern white pine
,
speckled alder
,
eastern hemlock
, and
black ash
.
[9]
The area is also home to
white-tailed deer
,
moose
,
black bears
,
bobcat
,
coyotes
,
red fox
,
fisher
,
otter
,
mink
,
marten
,
weasel
,
beavers
,
porcupine
,
muskrat
,
red squirrel
, and
snowshoe hare
.
[10]
Common birds include
olive-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
, and
spruce 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 including
squaretail
,
togue
, and isolated populations of
blueback trout
are the best known fish of the rivers and lakes. The
Muskellunge
is a non-native fish that has spread throughout the Saint Johns River watershed.
[12]
Black fly
,
mosquito
,
deer fly
, and
midge
populations can be significant from late spring through early autumn. The Maine North Woods are also home to the endangered
Canada lynx
,
bald eagle
and the
Furbish lousewort
, a rare plant that is found only in the Saint John River Valley. Animals which have disappeared from the woods during European settlement include
caribou
and
gray wolf
.
Folklore
[
edit
]
Early 19th century logging of the North Maine woods employed native
Maliseet
, English settlers from the Atlantic coast,
French Canadians
from the
Saint Lawrence River
valley, and some unskilled laborers recruited from large eastern cities. Unique mythology evolved in the remote logging camps from
hazing
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 white
owl
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]
- Razor-Shins was an immortal
humanoid
with sharp shin bones and a thirst for
liquor
in the
prohibition
state of Maine. New employees were encouraged to leave a jug of
Bangor
whisky
outside of the camp door on the night of the
full moon
. If Razor-Shins emptied the jug by morning, he might use his razor-sharp
shinbones
to fell a tree for the new man. But there were tales of new employees caught in the woods by Razor-Shins and scalped or otherwise mutilated after failing to offer the customary tribute.
- Will-am-alones were
squirrel
-like creatures said to roll
poisonous
lichen
into small balls and drop them onto the
eyelids
or into the ears of sleeping men. The lichen balls were reputed to cause
headaches
and visual
hallucinations
the following day. The effects seemed most evident among men who had consumed illegal liquor.
- Windigo
(or "
Indian
devil") was described as a huge, shadowy humanoid with a voice like the moaning of the wind through the pine boughs, but known only by his tracks through the snow. Each footprint was 24 inches (61 cm) long and resembled a
snowshoe
imprint with a red spot in the center where blood had oozed through a hole in his
moccasin
. Some feared to cross his tracks and claimed looking upon Windigo would seal their doom.
- Ding-ball or Dingmaul
was a
cougar
whose last tail joint was ball-shaped and bare of hair and flesh. Ding-ball was fond of human flesh and would sing with a human voice to lure the incautious out of their cabins at night where it waited in the darkness to crack their
skulls
with its tail.
- Pamoola or Pomola (not to be confused with the
bird spirit of a similar name of the same region
) was a
sabertooth cat
-like predator with four tusks that feasted on both animals and
Indians
alike but fears
White men
. It can only be slain by lightning strikes as conventional weapons can’t bring one down, similar to the
Nemean lion
of
Greco-Roman mythology
.
National monument
[
edit
]
On August 24, 2016, President Obama signed an
executive order
designating 87,000 acres (350 km
2
) to the east of
Baxter State Park
as the
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
.
[14]
The previous day
Roxanne Quimby
transferred that land to the
U.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 km
2
) 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 the
United States Congress
on this matter.
Maine's congressional delegation, with the exception of
Democratic
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 km
2
) 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]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
North Maine Woods is the setting for the 2020 film
Blood and Money
.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
History of NMW
- ^
"Chapter 1: Northern Maine and New Hampshire"
.
United Divide: A Linear Portrait of the USA/Canada Border
. The Center for Land Use Interpretation. Winter 2015.
- ^
DeLorme Mapping Company
The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer
(13th edition) (1988)
ISBN
978-0-89933-035-8
- ^
"The Complete Guide to Maine Firewood & Fires"
.
Day Logging
. Retrieved
9 May
2023
.
- ^
Oakleaf, H.B. (1920).
Lumber Manufacture in the Douglas Fir Region
. Chicago: Commercial Journal Company. p.
8
.
- ^
Holbrook, Stewart H. (1961).
Yankee Loggers
. New York: International Paper Company. pp. 42?43.
- ^
"Telos Dam and Cut (Canal)"
.
Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
. State of Maine
. Retrieved
1 May
2016
.
- ^
Olson, D. M, E. Dinerstein; et al. (2001).
"Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth"
.
BioScience
.
51
(11): 933?938.
doi
:
10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2
.
{{
cite journal
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Thoreau, Henry David
The Maine Woods
Apollo edition (1966) Thomas Y. Crowell Company pp. 395?396
- ^
Burt & Grossenheider(1964)
- ^
Thoreau, Henry David
The Maine Woods
Apollo edition (1966) Thomas Y. Crowell Company pp. 414?416
- ^
"MUSKELLUNGE MANAGEMENT PLAN"
.
Maine.gov
. Retrieved
August 11,
2013
.
- ^
Botkin(1989)pp. 169?171
- ^
Kevin Miller (24 August 2016).
"Obama signs order to create national monument in Maine's North Woods"
.
Portland Press Herald
. Retrieved
24 August
2016
.
- ^
Nick Sambides Jr. (August 23, 2016).
"Roxanne Quimby transfers 87,000 acres planned for national monument to US government"
. Bangor Daily News
. Retrieved
August 23,
2016
.
- ^
"Publication: The North Woods; article: Vision to Reality"
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-03-16
. Retrieved
2009-08-31
.
- ^
Web site of "Maine Woods Coalition"
- ^
Nick Sambides Jr. (February 11, 2016).
"Park director responds for Obama on North Woods monument effort"
. Bangor Daily News
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
- ^
Michael Shepherd (February 23, 2016).
"LePage, Medway Democrat team up against North Woods park"
. Bangor Daily News
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
- ^
Michael Shepherd (February 12, 2016).
"Citing 'takeover' threat, LePage orders access to Quimby land"
. Bangor Daily News
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
References
[
edit
]
- Botkin, B.A. (1989).
A Treasury of New England Folklore
. American Legacy Press.
ISBN
978-0-517-67977-7
.
- Burt, William H.; Grossenheider, Richard P. (1964).
A Field Guide to the Mammals
. Houghton Mifflin Company.
- FishBase
(2006):
Salvelinus
species
. Version of 2006-MAR-14. Retrieved 2008-FEB-01.
External links
[
edit
]
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