Did You Know a Huge Part of Maine is Owned by a Foreign Company?
While it is nowhere near as massive as the Midwestern and Western states, Maine encompasses a lot of land for a New England state. A...LOT...OF...LAND!
In total, Maine covers about 22 million acres! Within that space are small towns, cities, beaches, fields, and majestic forests.
Did you ever wonder who owns the largest amount of land in Maine?
The answer is actually not "who", but "what".
According to World Population Review, the largest chunk of Maine (nearly 1.25 million acres) is owned by an international company with headquarters in New Brunswick, Canada.
JD Irving is a massive international corporation that was founded in Canada as a lumber company in 1882. Yes, this year marks their 140th year in business. The company is involved in several different industries. These include shipbuilding, land transportation (Midland, Sunbury, and a handful of railroads, for example), personnel services, security services, food manufacturing, retail products, construction equipment, and about a dozen newspapers across Atlantic Canada. They even own the Moncton Wildcats, a minor league hockey team!
Of course, one of the biggest industries they are involved in is forestry, as well as lumbering and the production of wood-related products. They make paper, tissue paper, and other wood pulp products. Their involvement in the forestry industry is the reason they own so much land in Maine. The bulk of the land they own is in the vast forests of the northern and western parts of the state.
You can learn more about the company and what they do here.