Acadia National Park on my Mind recently posted a story about the new White Birches RV camp and caught up with some the seasonal staff staying there this summer.

Over the last several months, 13 RV pads were created at White Birches Camp in Southwest Harbor and equipped with water, electric, and septic. The former commercial campground now serves seasonal employees and volunteers who utilize recreational vehicles during their tenure at Acadia.

This project and is part of Friends of Acadia’s seasonal housing efforts in partnership with Acadia National Park, which include both new construction and renovations.

White Birches Camp, a National Park Service owned campground funded by Friends of Acadia, provides seasonal employees and volunteers with both organizations access to affordable housing during their time at the park. (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)

White Birches Camp provides seasonal employees working in the park and volunteers with new housing options for those who travel with RVs during their time at the park. (Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)

Here’s an excerpt from the story:

Jim Turner, an Island Explorer bus driver this year, said he is impressed with his site at Acadia National Park’s new RV camp, called White Birches and built partly to help attract seasonal workers at Acadia during a shortage of such workers at the park.

“This camp is fantastic,” said Turner, a retired optical network engineer and Army veteran who has stayed at RV places around the US while volunteering or working at national parks, a national forest and other sites. “They did a great job laying it out,” said Turner, who is working for the first time as a driver for the fare-free bus that services Acadia.

Eric Stiles, president and CEO of Friends of Acadia, said he loves the new White Birches Camp off Seal Cove Road in Southwest Harbor. If the camp was constructed by an outside construction firm, it would have cost $2.5 million, he said.

Instead, staff at Acadia National Park did most of the work, amounting to a $2.1 million “in-kind” contribution. FOA contributed $400,000 for highly specialized work by private companies, such as installation of a septic system and the electrical system, Stiles said.

“We could not have afforded $2.5 million,” Stiles said. “They didn’t have the $400,000 for the septic and electrical. We are far stronger together.”

Read the full story: Seasonal workers at Acadia get new RV camp, lower rents – via Acadia National Park on my Mind.