On May 26, Friends of Acadia President David MacDonald testified (virtually) before the National Parks Subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

David currently serves as the President of the National Park Friends Alliance Steering Committee and testified, along with three other National Park leaders, adding the perspective of the park partner community. Also testifying at the hearing was: Shawn Benge, Deputy Director, Operations, National Park Service; Ken Burns, a documentary filmmaker whose miniseries, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” included a segment on Acadia; and Scott Socha, Chairman of the National Park Hospitality Association.

Click here to listen to the full subcommittee hearing.

Below are quick links to the local media coverage of the hearing and David’s remarks: 

• King holds subcommittee hearing on National Parks Wednesday | newscentermaine.com
• Congress discusses how national parks will move on from pandemic | WPFO (fox23maine.com)
• FOA, Ken Burns ask Congress to fund parks – Mount Desert Islander (mdislander.com)

Friends of Acadia is a dedicated voice for Acadia and a leader among friends’ groups nationwide in effective and appropriate advocacy. We support initiatives that will strengthen federal appropriations for Acadia and surrounding communities, and we fight threats to the park at the local, state, and federal levels. Learn more about our advocacy work here.