It’s time to straighten the camel’s back. A large majority of the 13-member Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry has apparently yielded to special interests and embraced personal political gain.

By placing in jeopardy the close-at-hand fulfillment of former Gov. Baxter’s long-standing dream of annexing Katahdin Lake and surrounding lands to Baxter State Park, the committee has demonstrated indifference to Baxter’s ideals.

The opportunity is there in the from of LD 2015. But the committee has wasted the moment. Forgoing Baxter’s foresight and sensitivity, they have created a grotesque camel to transport their short-term thinking across the legislative process. Their failure to reach consensus is dooming the opportunity to gain spectacular lake and forest land for the people of Maine.

We the people will be the ultimate losers. The matter of selling and transferring lands to make the dream possible has many dimensions. But there is a well-prepared plan to make it feasible, if that plan is allowed to stand as presented. We must not permit special interests to “pilfer” 6,000 acres of magnificent land and water by nullifying the dream that so many hold dear and have worked unselfishly to realize.

Edward Dwyer, Auburn