Proposed "Eco-Resort" Development on the Schoodic Peninsula:

The Schoodic Peninsula: The Schoodic Peninsula offers a rocky coastline, winding trails, summit views from Schoodic Head, and the opportunity for quiet discovery and experience of this remote unit of Acadia National Park. Schoodic is a beautiful area for humans to live and visit. Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro, with their several villages, share the peninsula with Acadia. Schoodic is also home to many species worthy of conserving. The land provides valuable breeding, nesting, and stopover habitats for migratory songbirds. Hundreds of plant species thrive on the peninsula. The jack pine stands and maritime shrubland communities are listed as “Rare and Exemplary Natural Communities” by the Maine Natural Areas Program.

Acadia National Park has been protecting and sharing the Schoodic experience on 2,300 acres for 80 years.

The issue: Numerous important habitats and a critical biodiversity link between Acadia National Park and forested habitats to the north reside on the more than 3,200 acres of privately owned, undeveloped land bounding the Schoodic Unit of Acadia. Recently, consultants of the landowners, Winter Harbor Properties/Vittorio and Bruno Modena, contacted the Schoodic communities, Friends of Acadia, Acadia National Park, local land trusts, and other stakeholders to talk about a proposal to build a large scale “eco-resort” on 3,200 acres abutting the Schoodic District of Acadia National Park. The Modenas and consultants also have met with the Governor’s office about this proposal.

A formal development proposal has not been submitted for consideration to a planning board to date, and many questions remain regarding the concept plan. The concept plan discussed to date includes a golf course, two hotels, a beaver ecology center, a captive bird breeding center, a marine education center on Sargent Island, a native plant nursery, affordable housing, and a green corridor that includes trails and roads for bicycles and electric trams.

Again, the 3,200 acres in question provide an important, unfragmented habitat block that connects Acadia National Park to other undeveloped and/or conserved lands. The green corridor, which the consultants propose will serve as a buffer and land for wildlife and plant species to move and thrive in diverse landscapes, is interspersed with trails and electric trams to transport visitors and residents to and from eco-centers, homes, and lodges. The presence of trails and tramways interrupts the protected corridor, reducing if not eliminating its effectiveness as a buffer and habitat corridor.

We also are concerned about potential negative impacts associated with development of the land on dark night skies, viewsheds, natural soundscapes, and quiet visitor enjoyment of the Schoodic District of Acadia National Park.

How we are asking our members to help:

1. Sign up to be part of the Acadia Advocacy Network, a self-identified group of Friends’ members and other citizens who are interested in acting upon policy and planning issues and opportunities that affect Acadia National Park.
2. Attend public meetings and testify at appropriate venues about their desires and hopes for the Winter Harbor Properties lands, the surrounding communities, and the Schoodic District of Acadia National Park.
3. Invite a Friends of Acadia staff member to brief their organization or group on the status of the proposed development at Schoodic and Friends’ position.
4. Write letters to the editor.
5. Share their views with Friends of Acadia Conservation Director Stephanie Clement at 207-288-3340 or stephanie@friendsofacadia.org.

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