With the new school season starting, I was thinking it might be a good idea to start collecting money for scholarships to be awarded to upcoming Stearns and Schenck graduates. The scholarships could be awarded to individuals that have made efforts to uplift the community. Maybe something like this would entice the students to get more involved with the Our Katahdin platform.

I race mountain bikes in a category called 'ultra endurance'. This category of racing brings great attention to small places that host 100 mile and 24 hr circuit races, the central need being rugged, laden with trails, and beautiful. Moab 24 ....Bend 100 ...Leadville 100 ...Ducktown (Cohutta 100) ....Dolohnega (Fools Gold 100)...et cetera....

A Katahdin 100 properly planned and executed could become a part of the NUE Series, and would bring olympic and other amateur and pro talent to a race staged to start and finish in Millinocket, that coursed through the rugged AT area and back. All major such races in the US regularly obtain permits for temporary access to restricted public and private lands, from pristine areas of southern Utah around Zion to outside Jackson in the Tetons. The best model for a Katahdin 100 would be a hybrid of the Mohican 100 in Ohio and the Wilderness 101 in central Pennsylvania.

Whats missing is an effort for compromise. This can work if both sides sit down and work toward common goals and compromise on topics that are tough. It can me done. Reach out to communities across our country that are dealing with the same issues; Some have been successful and some are failing. There are ways to harvest trees and meet the needs of the opponents. Burt's Bees products are not manufactured without chemicals that are not controversial by an organization somewhere. And some companies are pushing the boundaries of harvesting trees. Compromise can bring some prosperity back to the entire region. It won't be the industrial wealth and pay that Great Northern Paper provided. And it doesnt need to mean that the tourist industry and logging industry need to suffer because of a $15k study about a "rare" mushroom. Negotiate and Compromise. While I've been living in Southern Maine I have always watched what has been happening back home. I find myself drawn into this because I am one of the Southern Maine residents that will likely cast a vote. How can I make sure the vast majority of the population understands what is really going on at "home"?

The Katahdin Region can rise again if it does exactly what the CBZ letter tells them to do. Millinocket has so much potential of becoming a tourist town. Obviously Millinocket is the gateway to Baxter State Park, Mt. Katahdin, and Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail to the north. Whitewater rafting on the West Branch of the Penobscot River and the Debsconeag Ice Caves to the west. And Gulf Hagas (The Grand Canyon of Maine/ the East) to the south. And Millinocket has a couple of art galleries in town. Also hunters, fishermen, ATV riders, and snowmobilers pass by a lot. Millinocket has a walking path (Mike Michaud Path) that runs parallel to Millinocket Stream. Tourists would love to walk around to explore and relax. And also the Katahdin Region can seek out for any manufacturing investment to come. So the Katahdin Region can have two economic engines for the prosperity to come. I don't see any reason why we can't have both the tourism and manufacturing industry up here.