Editor’s Note: Student Union is written by students at Hampden Academy, Brewer High School, Old Town High School and Schenck High School in East Millinocket. The weekly column is a joint effort among the schools, the Bangor Daily News and Acadia Hospital. This week’s column was written by Schenck High School students. Their adviser is Eric Steeves.

Many surveys and studies have been conducted to explore the possibility of having a large national park northwest of Millinocket. This issue has provoked a range of opinions from northern Maine residents.

The Massachusetts-based group RESTORE: The North Woods is adamant about creating a park in the Katahdin area. It has been developing brochures, conducting informational sessions and lobbying representatives to support its cause.

Many environmental and conservation groups, along with affluent patrons, have willingly joined this crusade to bring a national park to northern Maine.

Local groups and the paper industry, however, are expressing opposition to the idea of a national park. Many area students with close relatives in the forest products industry have voiced concern for the livelihood of their families. Recently, the Katahdin area has suffered economic problems and is totally dependent on the paper industry. Since the industry has been in decline, there has been an exodus of young people from the area because of a lack of job opportunities.

At Schenck High School in East Millinocket, more than 90 percent of the senior class plans to attend a college, tech school, or join the armed forces. They anticipate having to move from the area to seek employment. Despite the lack of job opportunities, most Schenck students do not see many advantages to having a national park.

To put things into perspective, the national park would be the size of the state of Connecticut. To see just how students feel about the issue, Robert Marquis, current events and U.S. government teacher at Schenck, conducted a survey in his classes.

An overwhelming 95 percent of the students surveyed were against the park. Julian Szabo, a Schenck junior and local snowmobile club member said, “A national park will hurt the paper industry and could lead to restrictions on snowmobiling, hunting and fishing. It would end our freedom to what we are able to do now in the woods.”

Another junior, Thomas Troxell, worries about the government taking people’s camps and summer cottages away through the constitutional doctrine of eminent domain, which allows the federal government to take land away from private individuals and corporations if it decides it is in the best interests of the public. Troxell states, “Our way of life up here is very important to us and it must not be jeopardized.”

Eugene Conlogue, town manager of Millinocket and a senior officer in The North Maine Woods Coalition, an anti-North Woods Park organization, voices strong opposition to the park concept. Conlogue, who helped form the organization, claims that the park presents a serious threat to the forest products industry as well as to the way of life of people who live in the Katahdin area. He plans to visit schools to talk to students about the North Woods Park proposal to make sure students are aware of the facts and issues involved.

However, the idea of a national park is not opposed by all students, most of whom would like to remain in the area after graduation.

Schenck junior Jessica O’Donnell plans to become a professional chef after attending college, and she envisions the park as having tremendous economic benefits for the region. “The park will create a lot of jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry. So anyone who desires a career in this field will have great job prospects,” said O’Donnell. Anthony Michaud, a sophomore at Schenck, said, “A national park will help local businesses and improve the economy.”

Jym St. Pierre, spokesperson for RESTORE, claims the park could coexist with the forest products industry and that people would be able to keep their properties and way of life.

However, many local students remember when the National Park Service made the Appalachian Trail a national parkway in the early 1990s.

The government took, by eminent domain, many of their parents’ and grandparents’ camps that were located within 1,000 feet of each side of the trail. This act left a lot of area residents with bitter feelings toward the NPS.

Gov. Angus King and all of our U.S. senators and representatives are against the park. Local legislator Joe Clark of Millinocket sponsored a resolution in the Legislature in opposition to the park. This resolution was passed in last year’s legislative session.

Surveying the students at Schenck showed that most are worried about losing rights, their way of life and well-paying jobs in the area.

The general feeling is that RESTORE needs to spend more time elaborating on the benefits of the park. Students suggested that RESTORE should send a representative to visit the schools to inform the students about the positive effects of the park.

Thus far, most of what the students learn about the advantages of a national park is from brochures and an occasional newspaper article.

Many students have questions, as well as ideas, about the park. They would advise RESTORE to seek student input and organize meetings if it wants to receive their support.