NPS Director Recognizes Acadia as Leader on Climate-Smart Restoration

National Park Service Director Chuck Sams spent a week at Acadia National Park in July 2022, and a key stop on his tour was the Great Meadow Wetland. There, Sams highlighted the $500,000 of federal funding that Acadia received to help improve the health and function of the Great Meadow Wetland, while improving its climate resiliency.

Funds will help improve water flow and quality, reduce flooding, expand wildlife passage, remove invasive plants, restore native plants for future climate conditions, and enhance recreational opportunities in the wetland. It builds on six years of work in the Great Meadow by the park, Friends of Acadia, and Schoodic Institute.

“This is a great example of climate resiliency and climate adaptation and bringing back ecosystem function into the wetlands,” Sams said, suggesting that Acadia’s leadership will lay a foundation for the entire National Park System.

The federal funding leverages significant investments by Friends of Acadia and the NPS in forward-thinking adaptive management. “Without these types of public-private partnerships,” Sams said, “we wouldn’t be able to do nearly everything we need to do to be the good stewards we want to be and are charged to be.”

Read more about the NPS Director’s visit.

Learn more about the Great Meadow Wetland climate-smart restoration work.

A More Diverse Work Experience for Reimagined Youth Conservation Corps

The Acadia Youth Conservation Corps (AYCC) has played a key role in maintaining Acadia National Park’s historic trails and carriage roads for five decades.

Friends of Acadia has supported AYCC for many of those years, but the program took a hiatus the summers of 2020-2021 due to the COVID pandemic. During that period, park staff and Friends of Acadia used the time to reimagine the program to give participants more diverse experiences with broader educational opportunities and exposure to other park programs.

In the summer of 2022, the program welcomed seven participants ranging in age from 15 to 18. The industrious group worked all over the park and in multiple divisions—from replacing 250 feet of bogwalk on the Giant Slide Trail and collecting garbage from 100 yards of beachfront on Isle au Haut, to painting carriage road gates, clearing back drains, and pulling invasive glossy buckthorn at Kebo Brook Trail and Great Meadow.

Youth Conservation Corps participants ended their summers with a deeper experience and appreciation for Acadia. And we ended our year with a greater appreciation for them!

Read more about the Acadia Youth Conservation Corps of 2022.

Learn more about how Friends of Acadia supports building Tomorrow’s Stewards.

L.L.Bean Expands Support for Island Explorer

Since it began operating in 1999, the Island Explorer has carried more than 9.1 million passengers to and from destinations in and around Acadia National Park. Those rides mean fewer private vehicle trips through the park, reduced emissions, and reduced traffic congestion.

In 2022, L.L.Bean pledged $1.5 million to support operations of the Island Explorer bus service over the next five years—an increase of 50% over their previous annual contributions. This pledge is the fifth time the outdoor retailer has committed funding to the bus system.

Integral to the success of the service are the Island Explorer drivers who are the well-trained employees of Downeast Transportation. The Island Explorer also returned to service on all routes in 2022 after having reduced routes in 2021. However, they were only able to hire 92 of 120 needed drivers due to the shortage of affordable workforce housing and other factors so service was reduced to the fall schedule earlier than planned.

An early start to recruitment began in the fall of 2022 for the following season, with Downeast Transportation expecting to hire around 20 new drivers. Turnover resulting from the seasonal workforce housing shortage in the area is a significant challenge, but recruitment packages include higher hourly rates, bonuses, weekly commitment options, flexible time off, and paid training.

Read more about possible car-free itineraries using the Island Explorer bus service.

Learn how Friends of Acadia works to enhance the visitor experience, while protecting our resources.

Acadia Trails Marked in National History

Acadia now has the largest system of trails listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first trail system on the register that originated from paths traveled by mid-19th century American landscape artists who found inspiration on Mount Desert Island!

Acadia’s hiking trails were listed in the National Register in the spring of 2022, recognizing their national historic significance and ties to the history of Mount Desert Island (MDI) and the establishment of Acadia National Park.

The listing includes 109 historic, maintained trails covering 117 miles, and 18 memorial plaques or markers, 12 viewpoints, and unique engineering features. Some of those trails are outside the park boundary on MDI, which is why the official listing is “The Mount Desert Island Hiking Trail System.”

Friends of Acadia helped fund the research and writing for the nomination.

Being listed on the National Register of Historic Places confers national historic significance, going far beyond recognizing the trails as locally significant. “This puts the trail system right up there with the carriage roads, the gatehouses, bridges, and lighthouses that were already on the National Register,” said Gary Stellpflug, Acadia’s Trails Foreman for 35 years until he retired in the fall of 2022.

Read more about Acadia’s Trails on the National Historic Register.

Read more about the retirement of longtime Trail Crew Foreman Gary Stellpflug.

Learn more about Friends of Acadia’s support for Acadia’s trails and carriage roads.

Defending Acadia Against Industrial Size Aquaculture

Friends of Acadia, local businesses, fishermen, conservation groups, municipalities, recreational boaters, and concerned citizens worked together last year in opposition to the proposal by American Aquafarms to lease two sixty-acre sites in Frenchman Bay for industrial-scale salmon farms.

The farms would have been located near Bald Rock and Long Porcupine Island, which is part of Acadia National Park. Concerns included nutrient-rich effluent and poor circulation in the bay, noise from the continuously running generators and water pumps, the potential for fuel spills from the five 500-kw diesel generators at each site, and scenic viewshed impacts from the carriage roads, trails and Park Loop Road.

After many public meetings, the Maine Department of Marine Resources finally stopped consideration of American Aquafarms lease proposals because they had not yet found an approved brood stock. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection also then ceased consideration. Friends of Acadia is now pursuing legislation to prevent future applications for immense salmon farms.

ACADIA FOR ALL

Chicago Youth Visit Acadia and Get Inspired

Teens Take on Climate, a Chicago-based nonprofit that connects diverse teens with climate education, employment, and opportunities to succeed on inclusive, interdisciplinary climate pathways, was one of four youth organizations that Friends of Acadia helped visit the park this summer with an Urban and Diverse Youth Grant.

The grants help defray the costs of transportation, gear, and recreation in the park, and support Friends of Acadia’s mission to provide opportunities for youth to experience Acadia and to engage them to become tomorrow’s stewards of conserved lands. Once the youth return home, they share their experience with the community through art, music, presentation, mentorship, and more.

While in Acadia, the Chicago teens learned about the geological history and future of Acadia, explored summits carved by passing ice sheets, and helped remove invasive European green crabs and Asian shore crabs from coastal waters. They also beautifully captured their experiences in writing and video.

Learn more about Friends of Acadia’s efforts to expand equitable programming and accessible visitor experiences to new communities exploring Acadia National Park.

WORKFORCE HOUSING

Addressing the Seasonal Workforce Housing Challenge

In 2022, Acadia National Park attempted to hire 165 seasonal positions and could only fill 116, including only about half of the needed trail crew. This was in large part due to lack of affordable housing, which has now become a crisis on Mount Desert Island.

Friends of Acadia is working with the National Park Service and other partners to provide affordable seasonal workforce housing by developing a seasonal workforce housing strategy with a goal to provide the 130 new beds needed for the park and partners.

This will help advance our strategic priorities and ensure that the park is able to protect park resources and provide for visitor enjoyment. It also helps makes jobs in Acadia accessible to all. Most graduates today leave college with an immense amount of debt and can’t afford expensive housing costs as they enter the workforce. Providing safe, affordable seasonal housing will reduce this barrier.

The ways in which Friends of Acadia has been asked to help support the park have grown and evolved over the years. We are encouraged by how Friends of Acadia members and partners are already responding with support and ideas to address the housing crisis. Thank you!

Learn more about the housing challenges faces by seasonal staff.