Burt's Bees founder wants to donate national park

[Demonaut]

Source: yahoo news

Quimby wants to give more than 70,000 wild acres next to Maine's cherished Baxter State Park to the federal government, hoping to create a Maine Woods National Park. She envisions a visitor center dedicated to Henry David Thoreau, the naturalist who made three trips to Maine in the 1800s.

The park would be nearly twice the size of Maine's Acadia National Park.

In a giveback to sportsmen, her vision is to set aside another 30,000 acres of woodlands north of Dover-Foxcroft to be managed like a state park, with hunting and snowmobiling allowed.

The Park Service is intrigued by Quimby's idea, especially since it believes the Northeast is underserved. The last time a large national park was created was in Alaska in the 1980s during the Carter administration.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_burt_s_bees_woods;_ylt=Asc54TcYbEEOo1zIud9OfhWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNvOXAyOHNvBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMzI3L3VzX2J1cnRfc19iZWVzX3dvb2RzBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDOARwb3MDNQRwdANob2

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awesome woman......

[freshwest]

1. Kudoes to Burt's Bees for appreciating my favorite writer to Thoreau.

And giving something back to future generations.

[noamnety]

2. FYI: Clorox now owns burts bees

That's in the article, but for those not reading the full link I wanted to mention it. In other words, this isn't a reason to rush out and buy their products in a show of support.

[wtmusic]

4. Ever since General Electric bought Ben and Jerry's

j/k, just warming up. April 1 is right around the corner :hi:

[SpiralHawk]

7. I heard Ben & Jerry's was buying GE as a republicon corporate tax dodge

maybe I need to work the Burt's Beeswax out of my ears ???

[marasinghe]

35. you're not too far from the real life scenario.

Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch multi-national, now owns Ben & Jerry's; along with about 2/3 of the coconut products of South Asia.

[avaistheone1]

42. Has Clorox changed the formulations? The products are not as good as I remember them.

[jpak]

3. The locals hate her - and LePage will hate this

He's busily attempting to open the last vestiges of undeveloped Northern Maine to his cronies for McMansionvilles

[bjobotts]

12. Already plans to privatize,deforest, and search for oil,runs through republican minds.

[bjobotts]

14. "Just as long as this doesn't make Obama or any dem look good then ok"

[Po_d Mainiac]

19. Some dislike, but she has friends as well...

An I am local..geez

[Gormy Cuss]

27. Yeah, the article discusses how she's won over some of her former foes

by offering to set aside a chunk of land for hunting and other typical Mainiac woods activities. She is right that a national park would attract some jobs to the area.

[WonderGrunion]

28. I "love" how her local critics drive around with the "Ban Roxanne"

bumper stickers but will be at any Teabagger rally complaining about individual property rights. They just don't see the hypocrisy.

[TheWraith]

29. Yeah, my ex-girlfriend was from that area, Millinocket.

I believe the exact way she described Quimby was "a real bitch." I never really found out why she felt that way though, since it was kind of an offhand remark.

[underpants]

48. Vote Quimby!

Without a Mayor Quimby, our town would really stink,
We wouldn't have a tire yard, or a mid-size roller rink.
We wouldn't have our gallows, or our shiny Bigfoot trap,
It's not the mayor's fault that the stadium collapsed!

[Scuba]

5. A wonderful gift for the People of Maine and the US... Plus it has to be making LePage squirm. n/

[TNLib]

6. Awesome and I love Burt Bess I'll have to go out and buy some

nt

[Darth_Kitten]

9. I love the tinted lip balms.

:hi:

[emmadoggy]

36. Me too! nt

[ClarkUSA]

8. Roxanne Quimby's modus operandi is similar to President Obama in the way she approaches critics.

The multi-millionaire disarmed her critics, who thought they'd have to deal with a patchouli-scented eccentric. What they found was a woman who thinks big, but is a pragmatic problem-solver; someone who has strong ideals, but is willing to compromise; a self-made businesswoman who's willing to put up her own millions to achieve her conservation goals.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_burt_s_bees_woods

There's a book out on her and other eco-gazillionaires that I read in 2009. She really is a "pragmatic problem-solver" who "is willing to compromise" to achieve her goals. That's a good thing, by the way, contrary to what some would have you believe.

[roguevalley]

17. since you are dragging Obama into this, consider that her

compromises don't mean that the poor have to pay higher taxes because billionaires are getting tax cuts. I could go on but you get the guist of my remarks.

[ClarkUSA]

23. lol! "dragging"? I made a statement that is truthful.

Her approach to conflict management includes agreeing to compromise with her worst opponents to advance her general goals. In Pres. Obama's case, that included extending UI and the middle-class tax cuts and winning a second stimulus bigger than the first one via a payroll tax holiday which Republicans groaned about afterwards. I could go on but you get the gist of my remarks.

[bjobotts]

18. The comparison is unqualified. One compromises before any offer has been made.

and settles for much less than could have been achieved just to avoid conflict. Keep in mind one can both support and criticize the actions of elected representatives but never blindly or fully support any so called leader for then they will only react to pressure from the other side in the face of your silence.

[ClarkUSA]

24. Prove it.

[Enthusiast]

44. My proof will come in my vote.

And it will not be for Obama.

[MH1]

53. (because "President Bachman" sounds SO much better).

:banghead:

[underpants]

49. Vote Quimby!

Without a Mayor Quimby, our town would really stink,
We wouldn't have a tire yard, or a mid-size roller rink.
We wouldn't have our gallows, or our shiny Bigfoot trap,
It's not the mayor's fault that the stadium collapsed!

[liberal N proud]

10. Excellent

[valerief]

11. Won't the govt just sell it to the Saudis? Or the Koch Brothers for $1? nt

[rtassi]

15. Come on .. Don't be so cynical that you can't enjoy this tremendous gift ..

Even for a moment !

[bjobotts]

20. Yes we love and appreciate it but know we will also be prepared to defend it.

[pa28]

25. Justifiable concern.

During the Bush administration national parks were deliberately underfunded to open the door for privatization of concessions and commercial activity.

This is incredibly generous on Ms. Quimby's part and she should be applauded. I hope she's skeptical enough to consider the possibility of the next Republican president parceling off her gift and maybe think about the idea of a land trust.

You can see a good one here.

[Lasher]

45. Right, George Bush tried so sell 200,000 acres of national forest land

I don't know if he managed to do it though.

[blondeatlast]

13. Wonderful, but in established DU tradition, I 'm gonna bitch and moan...

We might all be better served by removing the privatized parts of the established National Parks. The gorgeous el Tovar Hotel and Yellowstone Lodge are nothing, nothing at all, what they used to be; it's heartbreaking.

Still--wonderful news--that's being a good, fortunate citizen means.

[Old and In the Way]

16. Burt was quite a character up her....used to see him selling his honey out of his pick-up

in the 80's. You'd never forget him if you met him. IIRC, Burt had quit is media job in NYC to move to Maine and get back back to the land. Not sure what his relationship with Quimby was, but he was Burt's bee's.

Good for her. Yeah, it will drive the righties up here, crazy, but it's a really good thing for her to do.

[rucognizant]

34. I have heard.......

Can't prove it but source is reliable & friend of Burts......Quimby schmoozed him out of the company, relationship style................
My Daughter stopped buying the products when I told her that.

[Old and In the Way]

37. Yeah, I wondered about that, too.

Burt never struck me as someone who cared a whole lot about the $. I assumed he made a nice bundle when they sold the company originally...but she's always seemed to have been in the news with her hi-profile spending.

[avaistheone1]

41. I believe that Burt was cheated by Quimby

and think with a bit of googling one can come up with a link to support my belief.

[XemaSab]

21. Baxter is beautiful and WILD

I'm all in favor of this suggestion. :D

[BeFree]

52. Everyone should feel Baxter

That is one special place.

The whole area needs to be a national park. The best regulations covering and protecting lands are found in the laws establishing and maintaining national park lands. The "Organic Act".

I remember standing on a stream in the NW part of Baxter and thinking, this is land that man is truly just a visitor. And should never be more than just a guest who behaves well and treats the land with the utmost and caring respect.

This donation is real good news.

[lz1122]

22. Maybe it's me being skeptical

I was raised in Maine and love the State and I like the gesture of this, but if you give it up the Federal Government aren't you basically allowing whatever giving up control to Congres? Now that it's in control of the Federal Government what's stopping Bohener from paving it and putting up a strip mall?

[Old and In the Way]

38. I'd prefer to have it merge in with Baxter State Park.

That seems to be a very well run park that has kept to Gov. Baxter's original intent.

[lunasun]

26. we use Burts Bees products all the time VERY good and safe for you and family's bodies!!!

[bertman]

30. Rec. That reminds me I need to buy some more lip balm. nt

[noamnety]

46. see post 2. (nt)

[bertman]

56. Thanks, noamnety. I saw it before, but I know of no other company that

has natural lip balm that also isn't owned by a major corp. Can you help me on this?

[noamnety]

57. Palmers is a personal favorite.

The chocolate peppermint lip butter is to die for. From their website: Palmer's is a "cruelty-free" company and does NOT conduct product tests on animals. http://www.palmers.com/home/

Or if you want smaller than that, you can buy from a fellow DUer who manufactures her own: http://www.etsy.com/shop/urbaneden

[bertman]

59. Thanks, noamnety.

[wordpix]

31. now THAT is a patriot & I'll be buying more Burt's Bees products

[noamnety]

47. Why would you buy more lip balm?

Clorox isn't the one building a park.

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. Now THAT's a legacy.

[nahant]

33. Maine

About time there was some good news from Maine... I have many friends back there, in fact one is sending me some of this years Maple syrup mmmmm...
They also think LePage is a jerk...

[Liberty Belle]

39. Cool! I interviewed Roxanne Quimby back around '02 and I admired her because

She shocked the cosmetic industry by daring to put a **gasp** 40-something year old woman on the cover of her packaging.

I love their anti-aging skincare products and the orange cleanser is my absolute favorite skincare product.

It all started when Burt, the founder, caught a swarm of bees and starting making products with beeswax and honey.

How cool to see that this Mom-and-Pop business has grown into an outfit large enough to be able to donate a national park!

They'd better include a provision requiring that it must never be privatized, however, or turned into a mega-energy corridor as the National Forest and BLM are now doing, spoiling vast wilderness areas with power-line tranmissions lines in California with a 1,000 foot clearance on each side, plus wind and solar farms smack dab in the middle of what's supposed to be wilderness.One wilderness tract in McCain Valley is slated to get SIX wind farms plus the Sunrise Powerlink, so you'll have industrial-scale energy projects (500 feet tall) visible in every single direction. I'm all for green energy, but not when it defoliates our wild lands and deprives the public of recreational uses on public wilderness lands.

Roxanne should include a clause that if they ever try to do anything she wouldn't approve of, the land would revert back to her heirs.

[2Design]

40. Must include lots of stipulation against developers and republicans

in order to keep it a park

[Enthusiast]

43. That's wonderful.

Unfortunately some brain dead Republican like John Kasich might sell it off if they ever get elected to office.

[w4rma]

50. She has better force the government to adhere to very strict stipulations for managing the park.

Else Republicans might get into power and sell it all to other billionaires or sell mining and drilling rights all over the park to multinationals.

[Lost Jaguar]

51. Moved back home to Maine six years ago...

...and only this morning have I learned just WTH those "Ban Roxanne" bumper stickers were about. You go, girl! She has achieved the American Dream and the tea-partiers hate her for it. Go figure.

[Swampguana]

54. awesome

[Name removed]

55. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sonias]

58. Lovely

Makes me smile. :)

I'm a proud supporter of Burt's Bees products too!

[noamnety]

60. She has nothing to do with burts bees

She used to, then they sold out to clorox, which now owns the full line. So if you proudly support "burts bees" - you are proudly supporting clorox.