WCSH6
Secretary of Interior Visits Acadia
July 27, 2009

WINTER HARBOR (NEWS CENTER) -- The Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar made his first trip to Maine Saturday.

He took a yacht from Winter Harbor to Bar Harbor with Senator Susan Collins to see how more than $8 million of stimulus money will be used at Acadia National Park.

Park officials say they plan to use the money to fix roads and signs int he park and at the Schoodic Education and Research Center. The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Salazar says the government hasn't investedt his kind of money in national parks since the great depression.

"I think in these times of economic crisis when we're facing so many problems internationally and here at home that it's important for us to refuel the spirit of America and certainly here at Acadia you see it in so many different ways you know the noises and the smells and the cultural history," he said.

Salazar says he hopes this money will help retain the more than 3,000 local jobs that Acadia supports and create new ones too.

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