The success of National Parks is a blessing and a curse, unfortunately. We should be happy people are appreciating these natural spaces, but beyond a certain threshold, it becomes a hug of death.

National Parks are great, but everything doesn't need to be one. National Monuments, Preserves, & Wildlife Refuges are just as effective as protecting a space. The National Park moniker is now often leveraged in a way to drive tourism more than anything, which can be good and bad depending on the area. Lately though, it feels like a lot of these designations are watering down the name brand (Indiana Dunes and Gateway, for example) just for the sake of driving tourism money. I think the Katahdin region is certainly worthy of the Park label, but not sure if that's what's best for the region.