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Can anyone explain whats going on with Maine? It doesn't make sense for a coastal state to be so uninhabited.

jsmthrowaway 13y ago
The coast is about the only part of Maine that is inhabited. That particular dark green area is largely remote, quite harsh, and has very little infrastructure. North and west of there is the tiny sliver of inhabited Quebec, then go much further beyond and you're in some of the harshest, most remote land in North America. If you're interested in what the area looks like, check out the Trans-Taiga Road as well as the (less remote) James Bay Road.
- Serow225 13y ago
  The trans-taiga road is very cool!
nine_k 13y ago
Protected forests? Harsh weather? Bad publicity from Stephen King's books?
glenstein 13y ago
The vast majority of our population is scrunched into the southernmost quarter of the state. I'm not sure but I would guess Maine is the poorest of the New England states. Our economy depends very much on tourism and economic connections to the rest of New England, which means the state "faces" the south, in a sense. Not a whole lot going on up in the north by comparison. Just forest and many many lakes which alternate between being frozen or mosquito infested depending on the season.
mbell 13y ago
I grew up in Maine. The area in green is rather rugged terrain. It's the end of the appalachian mountains with lots of sharp features cut by receding glaciers, then to top it off, it's very dense forest. Topo map (http://www.geomart.com/images/raisedrelief/me.jpg http://www.geomart.com/images/raisedrelief/me.jpg) Large portions of that area are also owned by paper companies. They obviously use it for harvesting trees but also open it up for public use. That makes it sort of a quasi national park type area except that it's privately owned. There are also a lot of privately owned 'outdoors' cabins up there where hunters/campers go in the summer, and snowmobilers in the winter. Not many people 'live' there, but during some periods of the year there are a fair number of people around, particularly near the larger lakes. It is a beautiful and relaxing area, I head up there once a year to go camping and 'unplug' from Boston for a week. It is somewhat refreshing to be 80 miles from the nearest paved road and 5 miles of canoe paddling from your vehicle.

The coast is about the only part of Maine that is inhabited. That particular dark green area is largely remote, quite harsh, and has very little infrastructure. North and west of there is the tiny sliver of inhabited Quebec, then go much further beyond and you're in some of the harshest, most remote land in North America. If you're interested in what the area looks like, check out the Trans-Taiga Road as well as the (less remote) James Bay Road.

Serow225 13y ago
The trans-taiga road is very cool!

nine_k 13y ago

Protected forests? Harsh weather? Bad publicity from Stephen King's books?

glenstein 13y ago

The vast majority of our population is scrunched into the southernmost quarter of the state. I'm not sure but I would guess Maine is the poorest of the New England states. Our economy depends very much on tourism and economic connections to the rest of New England, which means the state "faces" the south, in a sense. Not a whole lot going on up in the north by comparison. Just forest and many many lakes which alternate between being frozen or mosquito infested depending on the season.

mbell 13y ago

I grew up in Maine. The area in green is rather rugged terrain. It's the end of the appalachian mountains with lots of sharp features cut by receding glaciers, then to top it off, it's very dense forest. Topo map (http://www.geomart.com/images/raisedrelief/me.jpg http://www.geomart.com/images/raisedrelief/me.jpg) Large portions of that area are also owned by paper companies. They obviously use it for harvesting trees but also open it up for public use. That makes it sort of a quasi national park type area except that it's privately owned. There are also a lot of privately owned 'outdoors' cabins up there where hunters/campers go in the summer, and snowmobilers in the winter. Not many people 'live' there, but during some periods of the year there are a fair number of people around, particularly near the larger lakes. It is a beautiful and relaxing area, I head up there once a year to go camping and 'unplug' from Boston for a week. It is somewhat refreshing to be 80 miles from the nearest paved road and 5 miles of canoe paddling from your vehicle.