BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 23, 2021
The Maine Woods Initiative is an expansive, expensive project. It’s doubtful any organization without the history and experience of the Appalachian Mountain Club could pull it off. In fact, it’s fair to ask if even the AMC could accomplish it. It’s a question the organization asked itself in a just-completed 15-year assessment of progress. The short answer is, yes, mostly. AMC has created a four-season destination in Maine’s most economically-stressed county. In a tourism region that also contains Moosehead Lake, AMC now accounts for 5-7 percent of the area’s hospitality jobs. Few accommodations deep in the Maine woods can match its modernized lodges. There are 130 miles of trails, many useable year-round. And, to top it off, the International Dark-Sky Association certified the entire AMC acreage as New England’s first Dark Sky Park earlier this year.