A BEE OF A DIFFERENT STRIPE

After she confronted many of her most vocal critics Thursday night, there should be no confusion about Roxanne Quimby. She is not a radical. She is a shrewd businesswoman. Except for the fact that she advocates for a national park, she is not much different from the investment companies that now own millions of acres in the Maine woods. They have limited public access to their land, terminated some leases and manage their holdings for the long-term – with minimal public complaint. If Ms. Quimby wore a suit and hired Canadian loggers to cut trees on her land, there would be much less controversy over her purchases.

The latest outcry over Ms. Quimby’s purchases began when she bought 24,000 acres, all of T5R8, which borders Baxter State Park, from J.D. Irving Ltd. Immediately camp owners and local businesses that cater to hunters and snowmobilers said she would put them out of business. Ms. Quimby has not put any of her other 16,000 acres of forestland she owns off limits to hunting or snowmobiling.

On Thursday, Ms. Quimby, co-founder of Burt’s Bees, offered to work with leaseholders and logging companies that want access to her land. “I think we live in a democracy, I don’t think I’m the queen of T5R8,” Ms. Quimby said at a packed forum sponsored by the Forest Resources Association, an industry group. She had a simple business proposition: If you want something from me, like a logging road across my land, pay me for it. When the guys in suits make such offers, it is not considered out of the ordinary.

Those who express fears about losing access to hunting camps and snowmobile trails may be misdirecting their concern and, unfortunately, anger. While much ink has been devoted to Ms. Quimby’s recent purchase, not much has been said about another Irving sale that took place at the same time. The company sold 47,000 acres to Herbert Haynes of Winn and William Gardner of Millinocket. Both men have histories of buying up forest land, stripping off the valuable timber and then selling lots for development. The land around Katahdin Lake, which offers stunning views of Mount Katahdin, would be much in demand for vacation house lots. If those who live, work and recreate in the north woods are concerned about access to the land, they should be much more concerned about purchases by developers than by a conservationist.

It would be a mistake to think a former owner of Burt’s Bees cosmetics will establish federal policy for national parks. Given the lack of congressional and National Park Service support for such an endeavor here, the park remains no more than a dream. In the meantime, it sounds like not much is going to change in T5R8.

Those who respect private-property rights and want use of Ms. Quimby’s land would be wise to take her advice: Make her an offer. It’s the business-like thing to do.