The Libertarian philosophy ignores the biodiversity protections which public involvement could ensure on the Champion lands. An auctioning of these lands to the highest bidder and their subsequent parcelization would have been a terrible loss not just for the Northeast Kingdom, but for all of Vermont. Moreover, as one who is fairly intimate with these woods as well as the economic challenges of living in the area, I don't think a strictly Libertarian view would make for increased economic opportunity here.
Conservation pays dividends beyond clean air, water and the experience of remote places.
Towns like Island Pond, Canaan, and Bloomfield will have increased economic opportunities if the special values of the Champion lands are protected and restored. Unfortunately the debate was led by property rights ideologues to whom moderates made no response, a perhaps familiar scenario.