Who manages activities in the Penobscot River Corridor inside Baxter State Park, the Baxter Park Authority or the Bureau of Parks and Lands?

Plain-English summary

The Director of Maine's Bureau of Parks and Lands asked Deputy Attorney General Paul Stern for guidance on a jurisdictional question: which agency manages the portion of the Penobscot River Corridor that runs through Baxter State Park, the Baxter State Park Authority or the Bureau of Parks and Lands? The Deputy AG's short memorandum concluded that Governor Percival Baxter's deeds of trust, which gifted the park to the State of Maine, intended the Baxter State Park Authority to manage all activities falling within the park's boundaries. Recreational activities are not carved out. So even though the Penobscot River Corridor is a separately recognized resource that the Bureau of Parks and Lands manages elsewhere, the section of the Corridor inside Baxter State Park is managed by the Baxter Park Authority.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Why does Governor Baxter's intent control?

Baxter State Park came to the State of Maine as a gift from former Governor Baxter, and the terms of that gift are set out in his deeds of trust. The memo treats those deeds as the source of management authority over activities inside the park, rather than the statutes that govern other state lands.

Who manages the Penobscot River Corridor outside the park?

The Bureau of Parks and Lands. The memo addressed only the overlap where the Corridor crosses into Baxter State Park, and concluded that the inside-the-park portion is the Baxter State Park Authority's responsibility.

Does the Bureau of Parks and Lands have authority inside the park?

For activities falling within the Baxter Park Authority's management responsibility under Governor Baxter's deeds, no. The memo treats all activities inside the park, including recreational ones, as the Authority's domain.

Is the opinion's reasoning written out in detail?

No. This is a short internal memorandum from the Deputy Attorney General to the Director, not a formal published opinion. It rests on the intent expressed in the deeds of trust without extended analysis. Anyone working a contested management question would want to read the deeds themselves.

Background and statutory framework

Baxter State Park was donated to the State of Maine by former Governor Baxter, with the terms of the gift recorded in his deeds of trust. The memo treats those deeds as the controlling source for who can do what inside the park: the Baxter State Park Authority manages activities within park boundaries, and the deeds define the scope of activities permitted and the agency empowered to oversee them. The Penobscot River Corridor is otherwise a resource the Bureau of Parks and Lands manages; this memo addressed only the stretch that falls inside the park.

Citations

This memorandum did not cite specific statutes or cases. Its conclusion rested on Governor Baxter's deeds of trust as the source of management authority over activities inside the park.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.maine.gov/legis/lawlib/lldl/agops/agops.htm
• Original PDF: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/AG/Opinions/2002/ag_20020325.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF MAINE
DEPARTMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
MEMORANDUM

TO: Herbert Hartman, Director, Bureau of Parks and Lands

FROM: Paul Stern, Deputy Attorney General

DATE: March 25, 2002

RE: Penobscot River Corridor

You have asked me to provide a memorandum setting forth my views regarding the oversight of the Baxter Park Authority over that portion of the Penobscot River Corridor within the boundaries of the Park. It is my view that Governor Baxter's intent, memorialized in his deeds of trust, was that all activities, including recreational activities, falling within the Park be managed by the Baxter State Park Authority. Therefore, I believe that it is both appropriate and necessary for the Authority to manage and oversee activities anywhere in the Park, including any portion of the Corridor within Park boundaries.

I hope this has been helpful to you. If you have any further questions, please call.

PAUL STERN
Deputy Attorney General

cc: Irvin C. Caverly, Jr.