As a Millinocket native, I’ve followed the national park proposal and the discussions surrounding it.

Millinocket and the Katahdin region are a very special and important part of my life, and seeing the downfall the region has taken following the closing of the mills is heartbreaking.

As a doctor, just finishing my training and looking to possibly return to my hometown and help make it a better place, I’m dismayed by recent events.

Much of my family still lives in the Katahdin region. My grandparents, parents, siblings and I were born and raised in Millinocket. My father and uncle worked in the mills in Lincoln and East Millinocket, respectively.

Since the mills’ closures, the towns have not been the same. I recall a booming Main Street that is now desolate and almost always empty. I know many friends and acquaintances who own and operate small businesses in Millinocket that struggle more and more each day we fail to move forward and create this national park.

Every day legislators fail to support the park or a national monument and accept this incredibly generous $100 million gift is a day another home is foreclosed on. Every day the voices of the majority of constituents are ignored is another day fewer of those constituents are employed in what remains of the timber industry.

I hope Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins understand how this opportunity could turn Millinocket and the Katahdin region back into the thriving area it once was.

Janessa Leger

Portland

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