Several months ago my husband and I took a relaxing drive to the White Mountain National Forest. I marveled at the size of this preserve vs. the size of New Hampshire.

I thought, what is all the fuss about in Maine about the proposed Maine Woods National Park? Maine must be about five times larger than New Hampshire, so if New Hampshire can do it, why can’t Maine? Many people were visiting and contributing to the economy of the gateway communities.

Nationwide, national parks generate $10 billion in economic activity annually. Maine could be sharing in this windfall. Therefore, it’s difficult to understand why our political leaders are leading in the opposite direction, while every legitimate public opinion survey in Maine shows the people are in favor of the park. The fact that Piscataquis County is already the poorest county east of the Mississippi is due to overreliance on the forest products industry, not the proposed national park.

Ruth Gabey

West Gardiner