After moving to Cumberland in 1984 to work for a large company, we started our own business in 1994 and, four years ago, moved to Patten, largely because of the North Woods and the experiences they offer.

Although we searched far and wide for a place to eventually retire, we chose Patten. With the Internet, I still manage our business despite now living in a rural, remote, beautiful area. Along with the people we have met, the proposal to create a national park and national recreation area proves to us we made the right decision.

Yet another paper mill recently announced it is closing (“Shutdown of Madison mill is state’s fifth in two years,” March 14). Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King finally called what has been happening to rural, formerly timber-driven economies of Maine “a crisis”! It’s about time, considering this crisis has been playing out over the past two decades.

Our elected representatives do not seem to understand the realities on the ground throughout Penobscot County, perhaps the hardest hit by the decline of the industry, at least to date. Nor do they understand the realities of the 21st-century economy.

These days, business owners, from entrepreneurs to larger companies, move into areas where they or their employees find a high quality of life. Advances in telecommunications have made this radical shift possible. Thus far, our elected officials have let this shift pass by northern and rural Maine.

A national park is not an all-encompassing solution. But if you look at areas around the country that contain parks, you quickly get the sense that this would be a good thing for Penobscot County, and all of Maine.

If our senators cannot grasp that, the president should do as many before him have done and create a national monument as a first step on a path to brighter days.

Steve Case

Patten