With friends like these…

As lifelong frequent visitors to Baxter State Park and a Baxter family member, I take issue with the portrayal of the park management by the Friends of Baxter State Park. The Park Authority, director and employees have done a superb job in the face of competing demands on the park’s resources and infrastructure. Naturally, some of the decisions will not please everybody, however, I am sure that Percy Baxter’s intents have been met and will continue to be met – whether or not they please a special interest group.

For example, one of the issues brought up in the BDN article on Nov. 13 is hunting and trapping in the newly acquired lands. Some would have you believe that Baxter opposed hunting and trapping, and thus would not have favored keeping these lands open to these uses. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, he specifically set up two areas in the park open to these uses.

The most unfortunate aspect of this group is its slated intention to manipulate the park policy by going to the legislature. How can each of the legislators be experts in what Percy Baxter wanted any better than the authority specifically appointed for that purpose? Will the Friends of Baxter State Park insist that each and every one of our senators and representatives carefully read the deeds, trusts, letters and other documents as they intend to? After all, they themselves stated that, “it will be tougher to interpret what might have been meant by those principles.”

This appears to be a group trying to create an issue where there needs not be one. And this surely would not have been Baxter’s intent.

Michael White

Hampden