Foundation Document Acadia National Park Maine September 2016 Acadia National Park Foundation Document
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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Acadia National Park Maine September 2016 Acadia National Park Foundation Document To Ellsworth to Bangor Bangor Bucksport 1A 26mi 1 3 42km 19mi 20mi 31km 32km Ellsworth 18mi 1 29km 15 Augusta to Bangor 3 Gouldsboro 76mi 172 West Gouldsboro 122km 186 195 Belfast 6mi 186 20mi 10km Blue Hill 95 3 32km 47mi Passenger 76km ferry 3 Bar Winter Harbor 15 Harbor 1 36mi 3 58km 102 Augusta Schoodic Peninsula 27mi Southwest Northeast Augusta to Portland Harbor Detail 57mi 43km Harbor 92km Deer Bass Harbor To Isle Portland Camden Mount Desert Vehicle ferry Island Detail Stonington Swans Island Passenger 35mi ferry ACADIA NATIONAL PARK 56km Rockland Isle au Haut 1 Detail Wiscasset to Portland 0 20 Kilometers 46mi 76km Wiscasset 0 20 Miles Acadia National Park Contents Mission of the National Park Service 1 Introduction 2 Part 1: Core Components 3 Brief Description of the Park 3 Park Purpose 5 Park Significance 6 Fundamental Resources and Values 7 Other Important Resources and Values 10 Interpretive Themes 11 Part 2: Dynamic Components 12 Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments 12 Assessment of Planning and Data Needs 12 Identification of Key Issues and Associated Planning and Data Needs 13 Planning and Data Needs 15 Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values 23 Analysis of Other Important Resources and Values 44 Part 3: Contributors 51 Acadia National Park 51 NPS Northeast Region 51 NPS Denver Service Center, Planning Division 51 Appendixes 52 Appendix A: Enabling Legislation and Legislative Acts for Acadia National Park 52 Appendix B: Inventory of Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments 69 Appendix C: Past and Ongoing Park Planning Efforts 72 Foundation Document Acadia National Park Mission of the National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world. The NPS core values are a framework in which the National Park Service accomplishes its mission. They express the manner in which, both individually and collectively, the National Park Service pursues its mission. The NPS core values are: · Shared stewardship: We share a commitment to resource stewardship with the global preservation community. · Excellence: We strive continually to learn and improve so that we may achieve the highest ideals of public service. · Integrity: We deal honestly and fairly with the public and one another. · Tradition: We are proud of it; we learn from it; we are not bound by it. · Respect: We embrace each other’s differences so that we may enrich the well-being of everyone. The National Park Service is a bureau within the Department of the Interior. While numerous national park system units were created prior to 1916, it was not until August 25, 1916, that President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act formally establishing the National Park Service. The national park system continues to grow and comprises more than 400 park units covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These units include, but are not limited to, national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. The variety and diversity of park units throughout the nation require a strong commitment to resource stewardship and management to ensure both the protection and enjoyment of these resources for future generations. The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. The sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values. 1 Foundation Document Introduction Every unit of the national park system will have a foundational document to provide basic guidance for planning and management decisions—a foundation for planning and management. The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park as well as the park’s purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. The foundation document also includes special mandates and administrative commitments, an assessment of planning and data needs that identifies planning issues, planning products to be developed, and the associated studies and data required for park planning. Along with the core components, the assessment provides a focus for park planning activities and establishes a baseline from which planning documents are developed. A primary benefit of developing a foundation document is the opportunity to integrate and coordinate all kinds and levels of planning from a single, shared understanding of what is most important about the park. The process of developing a foundation document begins with gathering and integrating information about the park. Next, this information is refined and focused to determine what the most important attributes of the park are. The process of preparing a foundation document aids park managers, staff, and the public in identifying and clearly stating in one document the essential information that is necessary for park management to consider when determining future planning efforts, outlining key planning issues, and protecting resources and values that are integral to park purpose and identity. While not included in this document, a park atlas is also part of a foundation project. The atlas is a series of maps compiled from available geographic information system (GIS) data on natural and cultural resources, visitor use patterns, facilities, and other topics. It serves as a GIS-based support tool for planning and park operations. The atlas is published as a (hard copy) paper product and as geospatial data for use in a web mapping environment. The park atlas for Acadia National Park can be accessed online at: http://insideparkatlas.nps.gov/. 2 Acadia National Park Part 1: Core Components The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park, park purpose, significance statements, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. These components are core because they typically do not change over time. Core components are expected to be used in future planning and management efforts. Brief Description of the Park Acadia National Park preserves approximately 50,000 acres in Hancock and Knox Counties in the northeastern United States along the mid-section of the Maine coast. The park consists of portions of Mount Desert Island plus a portion of Isle au Haut to the southwest of Mount Desert Island, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland to the east, and most of or portions of 16 smaller outlying islands. The park also preserves more than 13,000 acres in conservation easements across its legislated boundary, which runs from the Penobscot River ship channel to just east of the Schoodic Peninsula. The park was created to protect the natural beauty of the highest mountains and rocky headlands along the Atlantic shore of the United States. Significant resources include a glaciated coastal and island landscape, an abundance of habitats, a high level of biodiversity, clean air and water, and a rich cultural heritage. Acadia National Park was established in 1916 as Sieur de Monts National Monument and incorporated into Lafayette National Park in 1919 as the first national park east of the Mississippi River. Much of the land comprising the park was donated from private landowners; a practice that continued throughout much of the 20th century. Congress authorized the National Park Service to accept a donation of land on the Schoodic Peninsula in 1929 when the park’s current name was adopted. In 1986, Congress granted the National Park Service authority to exchange, or purchase from willing sellers, selected inholdings in an effort to remove private inholdings in the park; transfer ownership of selected noncontiguous parcels; establish a more permanent and contiguous park boundary; continue the authority to accept conservation easements to protect scenic, ecological, and cultural values; and establish a park advisory commission. The park advisory commission was reauthorized for an additional 20 years in 2006. Acadia National Park is in a transition zone between temperate deciduous and northern coniferous forests along the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic flyway, overlying glacially sculpted granite mountains with interspersed glacially scoured lake beds and bounded by rocky headlands. Noteworthy natural resources include both coniferous and deciduous coastal spruce-fir forest, subalpine communities, heaths and marshes, an exceptionally diverse flora, over 40 species of mammals, and documented sightings of over 300 bird species. The land forms of the park illustrate the dynamics of many geologic processes including all three rock types, plate tectonics, volcanism, glaciations, and shoreline erosion. The power of glaciers is evident in U-shaped valleys and cliffs, while