BSP Authority
Percival Baxter submitted legislation in 1939 that established the Baxter State Park Authority as the sole governing body of the Park consisting of the Director of the Maine Forest Service, the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Attorney General.
Some background regarding the Baxter State Park Authority:
- Janet Trafton Mills – Maine Attorney General
Attorney General Janet Trafton Mills was born and raised in Farmington, daughter of Sumner Peter Mills and Katherine Coffin Mills. She graduated from Farmington High School and earned a BA degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a J.D. degree from the University of Maine School of Law, where she served on the Maine Law Review.
Ms. Mills was an Assistant Attorney General from 1976 to 1980, prosecuting homicides and other major crimes, the first woman in the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s office. In 1980, she was elected District Attorney for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties, a position to which she was re-elected three times. She was the first woman District Attorney in New England and one of the first in the country.
From 1995 through 2008, Ms. Mills practiced law in Skowhegan with her brother, former State Senator S. Peter Mills. In 2002, she was elected to the House of Representatives, representing the towns of Farmington and Industry. She served on the Judiciary Committee, the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and the Appropriations Committee. She had run successfully for her fourth term in the House in November 2008 when she was elected by the Joint Convention in December 2008 to be Maine’s 55th Attorney General. She was the first woman to hold the office of Attorney General in Maine. From 2011 through 2012, she was of counsel in the Litigation Group of PretiFlaherty, LLP. She also taught in the Justice Studies Program at the University of Maine Augusta and served for two years as Vice Chair of the Maine Democratic Party.
In December 2012, Ms. Mills was elected to serve as Maine’s 57th Attorney General. Ms. Mills and her husband Stanley Kuklinski live in Farmington. She has five stepdaughters and three grandsons.
- Chandler Woodcock – Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Chandler Woodcock was former Executive Director of the Maine Harness Horsemen’s Association. Prior to Woodcock’s involvement with MHHA he was an English teacher for 27 years. Woodcock has experience in civic and community participation that he will bring to his new post. He served three terms in the Maine Senate and two terms on the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee and campaigned for Governor in 2006. Woodcock is also a former registered Maine guide and member of "Brook Trout Maine."
- Doug Denico – Director of the Maine Forest Service and Authority Chair
A native of Vassalboro, Doug Denico earned his Bachelor of Science in forestry and Master of Science in forest economics at the University of Maine School of Forestry. He is immediate past president of the Maine Forest Products Council and currently serves as chair of the Maine Landowners and Sportsmen Relations Advisory Board. He is a licensed professional forester. His career includes forest management positions with International Paper, Scott Paper, S.D. Warren, Plum Creek and Sappi. He also owns and manages 1,300 acres of working forests in central Maine from Vassalboro to Township 7, Range 11, Piscataquis County.