North Maine Woods

Log jam at Ripogenus Gorge during 1870s log driving.

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]

The region covers more than 3.5 million acres (14,000 km²) 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.^[2] Much of the woods is currently owned by the timber corporations, including Seven Islands Land Company, Plum Creek, Maibec, Orion Timberlands and Irving timber corporations. Ownership changes hands quite frequently and is often difficult to determine.

Its main products are timber for pulp and lumber, as well as 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

Early European settlement of New England and Atlantic Canada was along the Atlantic coast. Some settlers 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. Logs in excess of those needed to build farming structures could be floated downstream and sold to sawmills.^[3] 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.^[4]

Prior to invention of railroads, industrial investment in these cities depended upon anticipated forest resources available to be floated down the 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.^[5] This competition was resolved by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty giving Maine control of what became the North Maine Woods.

Wildlife

The North Maine Woods are part of the New England-Acadian forests ecoregion.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8] 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, gray jay, ruffed grouse, and spruce grouse.^[9] 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. 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

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:^[10]

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 (60 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 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.

Proposed national park

Americans for a Maine Woods National Park, an interest group that includes scientists, educators, environmentalists and celebrities, is pushing to turn as much as 3.2 million acres (13,000 km²), an area larger than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined, into a national park. ^[11]

The proposed park is controversial among residents within or adjacent to the park's proposed borders. Many of them 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.^[12]

As of February 2015, no specific action had been taken by the United States Congress on this matter. It has also been suggested that President Barack Obama use his Antiquities Act authority to designate at least some of the area as a National Monument as a step towards a National Park, which does not require Congressional approval. Maine's congressional delegation, with the exception of Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree who represents southern Maine, has expressed "serious reservations" about such an idea. ^[13] Governor of Maine 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. ^[14] LePage has also ordered the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands to re-establish and maintain access to approximately 2,500 acres of state-owned land within the 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. ^[15]

Notes

↑ History of NMW
↑ DeLorme Mapping Company The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (13th edition) (1988) ISBN 0-89933-035-5
↑ 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.
↑ 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
↑ Botkin(1989)pp.169-171
↑
↑
↑ 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

Botkin, B.A. (1989). A Treasury of New England Folklore. American Legacy Press. ISBN 0-517-67977-9.
Burt, William H. and 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

State of Maine

Augusta (capital)

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Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Party strength

Regions	Down East Highlands Kennebec Valley Lake Country Mid Coast North Woods Penobscot Bay Southern Coast Western Mountains

Counties	Androscoggin Aroostook Cumberland Franklin Hancock Kennebec Knox Lincoln Oxford Penobscot Piscataquis Sagadahoc Somerset Waldo Washington York

Cities	Auburn Augusta Bangor Bath Belfast Biddeford Brewer Calais Caribou Eastport Ellsworth Gardiner Hallowell Lewiston Old Town Portland Presque Isle Rockland Saco Sanford South Portland Waterville Westbrook

Largest towns	Bridgton Brunswick Cape Elizabeth Falmouth Gorham Kennebunk Kittery Lisbon Old Orchard Beach Orono Sanford Scarborough Skowhegan Standish Topsham Wells Windham Winslow York

Saint John River Watershed

Tributaries	Allagash River Aroostook River Baker Branch Saint John River Becaguimec Stream Big Black River Birch River Blackwater River Campbell Branch Little Black River River De Chute Daaquam River Fish River Hammond River Jemseg River Kennebecasis River Keswick River Little Black River Little Machias River Little Madawaska River Little River Little Saint Roch River Little Southwest Branch Saint John River Machias River Madawaska River Meduxnekeag River Nashwaak River Nerepis River North Branch Birch River North Branch Blackwater River North Branch Meduxnekeag River Northwest Branch Saint John River Oromocto River Red River Saint Croix Stream Saint Francis River Shields Branch South Branch Birch River South Branch Blackwater River South Branch Machias River South Branch Meduxnekeag River Southwest Branch Saint John River Tobique River West Branch Little Black River

Lakes	Chemquasabamticook Lake Cross Lake Eagle Lake Fish River Lake Grand Lake Long Lake Mactaquac Lake Mud Lake Lake Pohenegamook Portage Lake Saint Froid Lake Scopan Lake Square Lake Umsaskis Lake

Towns	Allagash Ashland Blaine Bridgewater Caribou Eagle Lake Easton Edmundston Florenceville-Bristol Fort Fairfield Fort Kent Fredericton Frenchville Grand Bay–Westfield Grand Falls Grand Isle Hampton Hartland Hodgdon Houlton Limestone Littleton Madawaska Mapleton Mars Hill Masardis Monticello Nackawic New Limerick Oromocto Perham Perth-Andover Pohénégamook Portage Lake Presque Isle Quispamsis Rivière-Bleue Rothesay Sainte Agatha Saint-Camille-de-Lellis Saint-Cyprien Saint Francis Saint John Saint-Just-de-Bretenières Saint-Léonard Saint-Marcel Saint-Pamphile Saint-Zacharie Stockholm Sussex Van Buren Washburn Westfield Woodstock

Landmarks	Allagash Wilderness Waterway Bangor and Aroostook Railroad Clair–Fort Kent Bridge Edmundston–Madawaska Bridge Florenceville Bridge Fort Kent Hartland Bridge North Maine Woods Reversing Falls Saint John Harbour Bridge Saint John River High Level Crossing Saint Leonard–Van Buren Bridge Tinker Dam Watson Settlement Bridge

Penobscot River Watershed

Tributaries	Dead River East Branch Mattawamkeag River East Branch Penobscot River East Branch Piscataquis River East Branch Pleasant River Kenduskeag Stream Little Seboeis River Mattawamkeag River Middle Branch Pleasant River Molunkus Stream Narramissic River North Branch Marsh River North Branch Penobscot River Orland River Passadumkeag River Piscataquis River Pleasant River Sebec River Seboeis River South Branch Marsh River South Branch Penobscot River Stillwater River West Branch Mattawamkeag River West Branch Penobscot River West Branch Piscataquis River West Branch Pleasant River

Lakes	Allagash Lake Canada Falls Lake Caucomgomoc Lake Chamberlain Lake Chesuncook Lake Cold Stream Pond Grand Lake Seboeis Lobster Lake Lower Wilson Pond Matagamon Lake Mattawamkeag Lake Millinocket Lake Lake Onawa Pemadumcook Chain of Lakes Pushaw Lake Schoodic Lake Sebec Lake Seboeis Lake Seboomook Lake South Twin Lake Telos Lake Upper Wilson Pond

Towns	Abbot Bangor Bradley Brewer Brooks Brownville Bucksport Burlington Carmel Charleston Danforth Dover-Foxcroft East Millinocket Eddington Enfield Frankfort Guilford Hampden Haynesville Hermon Howland Hudson Island Falls Kenduskeag Kingman Lee Levant Lincoln Macwahoc Mattawamkeag Medway Milford Millinocket Milo Monson Oakfield Old Town Orland Orono Orrington Passadumkeag Patten Prospect Sangerville Sherman Smyrna Springfield Veazie Verona Winn Winterport Wytopitlock

Landmarks	Bangor and Aroostook Railroad Baxter State Park Fort Knox Gero Island Great Northern Paper Company Hundred-Mile Wilderness Katahdin Iron Works Maine Central Railroad Monson Railroad Mount Katahdin North Maine Woods Peaks-Kenny State Park Penobscot Indian Island Reservation Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory Ripogenus Gorge University of Maine Waldo–Hancock Bridge

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