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Gov. LePage: National Monument Process Rigged by 'Wealthy, Self-Serving Liberals from Away'

While the monument designation has prompted a mixed reaction from Democratic lawmakers, Republicans in the Maine Legislature remain largely opposed to the plan that they say will actually turn out to be a job killer in the Baxter State Park region.

Millinocket Democratic Rep. Stephen Stanley was among the first at the State House to oppose any effort to create a national park in northern Maine. Outgoing Democratic Senate Democratic Leader Justin Alfond, however, says the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument holds promise for the state, by offering new employment opportunities in tourism and sporting activities. House Republican Leader Ken Fredette of Newport says that President Obama’s unilateral action has betrayed the interests of all Maine residents.

“President Obama is at the end of his eight-year cycle as president and the people of Maine have spoken through their representatives in terms of passing a bill that said look, we don’t think this is the right action at this particular point in time — the governor signed that bill — and the president in his arrogance turns around and does just the opposite,” says Fredette. “And I think that is eroding quite frankly, the people’s belief in our Republican form of government.”

Republicans say the monument designation actually deals a serious blow to Maine’s tradition of outdoor recreation such as like snowmobiling and hunting. And they fear the action will ultimately lead to the creation of 3.2 million acre national park that will hurt the state’s forestry industry. Gov. Paul LePage agreed and issued a statement accusing Roxanne Quimby of using high-paid lobbyists in Washington, D.C., to stage an end-run around the will of Maine people, convincing President Obama to use his authority to designate this area as a national monument. LePage says the president’s executive order demonstrates that rich, out-of-state liberals can force their unpopular agenda on the state. Walter Whitcomb, who serves as commissioner of the department that oversees state parks, said the federal government hadn’t gotten much of a gift from the Quimby family.

“The land that Roxanne has purchased isn’t exactly Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, it’s mostly flat woodland and some swampy flat woodland,” Whitcomb said.

LePage says Mainers must now realize that the political system is rigged against them by wealthy, out-of-state liberals who made sure that quote “the fix has been in all along.”