SpringSpring 2014 VolumeVolume 1919 No. 1 A Magazine about Acadia National Park and Surrounding Communities Friends of Acadia Journal Spring 2014 A PURCHASE YOUR PARK PASS! Whether driving, walking, bicycling, or riding the Island Explorer through the park, we all must pay the entrance fee. Eighty percent of all fees paid in Acadia stay in Acadia, to be used for projects that directly benefi t park visitors and resources. The Acadia National Park $20 weekly pass and $40 annual pass are available seasonally at the following locations: Sand Beach Entrance Station Hulls Cove Visitor Center Bar Harbor Village Green Thompson Island Information Center Blackwoods and Seawall Campgrounds Annual pass artwork by Jacob Legutko. See story page 20. Acadia weekly passes are also available at: Cadillac Mountain Gift Shop Jordan Pond Gift Shop Some area businesses; call 207-288-3338 for an up-to-date list of locations For more information visit www.friendsofacadia.org President’s Message SILVER LININGS ach year, my daughter and I take a treasures is among the most fundamental bike trip through Acadia National and sound investments that our nation can EPark. We pack our sleeping bags make. We are encouraged by the empha- and gear on our bikes and spend a Satur- sis placed on national parks in President day winding through the carriage roads of Obama’s 2015 budget, released in March, Acadia, before pitching tent at Blackwoods which proposed increased funding for park Campground. Even though it’s only about operations, infrastructure, and new pro- ten miles from home, it always feels like a grams leading up to the Park Service’s cen- complete getaway, especially as night falls tennial in 2016. and the campground becomes a world unto In addition to our advocacy work, you itself. As the stars come out and the camp- can be assured that Friends of Acadia will fi res crackle, we hear families from near and also continue to invest our members’ gener- far sharing stories of their day in Acadia and ous contributions to fund groundbreaking excitedly making plans for tomorrow. projects that add a margin of excellence to This past fall we did not take our annual the management of Acadia. At a place like trip—due in part to the government shut- Blackwoods Campground, this will take down that shuttered Acadia in October, but the form of an innovative partnership with also in part to Eliza throwing herself into philanthropic and corporate supporters to her fi rst weeks of high school. While our Friends of Acadia continues replace older light fi xtures with “night-sky family tends to enjoy Acadia on an almost- to work in close partnership friendly” lighting to help conserve the spec- daily basis, I missed that deeper experience with local businesses and as tacular starry vistas that are increasingly in the park that an overnight camping trip rare in the northeastern US. It will also take affords. part of a national coalition the form of a completely new hiking trail But hope springs eternal in this new sea- to be a voice for Acadia and (made possible in part by FOA grant fund- son following a beautiful, snowy winter. ing and volunteers) that will link that camp- And as maddening and costly as the shut- to ensure that parks do not ground to Otter Cove, Gorham Mountain, down was, it just may prove to have a silver again fall victims to budget and Ocean Drive—offering an opportunity lining—or two. Last year’s painful closures brinksmanship as we plan for campers to access some of the most of the park motor roads forced by seques- popular areas of the park while leaving their tration and the shutdown opened my eyes for 2015 and beyond. cars behind. Save June 7th, National Trails to the glories of pedaling Acadia’s famed Day, to join FOA and the park for a planned Loop Road largely car-free. Taking our bike the impact felt by communities like ours— trail dedication and inaugural hike. trip in the quieter spring this year will mean making parks the most visible public sto- While traditions like an annual bike trip that Eliza and I can chart some new routes ryline of the shutdown. This year, Acadia’s are wonderful, changing up the mode of without concern for the cars and motor budget has been “restored” to 2012 levels, our visit to the park is something we should coaches that fi ll the park in summer and and the damaging sequestration cuts have all try more often: try Acadia off-season or fall. And I know that many other bikers and been eliminated. We hope that this isn’t a early in the morning; try it without a car or walkers will join me in enjoying the historic one-time bounce, but that elected offi cials with a tent. Even for those of us who have roadways and magnifi cent vistas under our in Washington will continue to see the vital been enjoying the park for decades, the own steam this spring, even before the gates importance of funding national parks. change might do us and Acadia good. K swing open for cars. Friends of Acadia continues to work in The other silver lining of the shutdown close partnership with local businesses and appears to stem from the widespread public as part of a national coalition to be a voice outcry during those two weeks in October. for Acadia and to ensure that parks do not People everywhere, including in Acadia, let again fall victims to budget brinksmanship their elected offi cials know how important as we plan for 2015 and beyond. Federal national parks are to our lives, and more funding from Congress must match pub- than 30,000 stories in the media focused on lic sentiment that caring for these national —David R. MacDonald Friends of Acadia Journal Spring 2014 1 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Edward L. Samek, Chair John Fassak, Vice Chair Michael Cook, Treasurer Emily Beck, Secretary Fred Benson Brownie Carson Gail Clark Hannah Sistare Clark Andrew Davis Nathaniel Fenton Spring 2014 Chris Fogg Jill Goldthwait VolumeVolume 1919 No. 1 C. Boyden Gray Anne Green A Magazine about Acadia National Park and Surrounding Communities Cookie Horner Jan Kärst Jack Kelley Meredith Moriarty Lili Pew Donna Reis Jack Russell Hank Schmelzer Nonie Sullivan Christiaan van Heerden Dick Wolf Bill Zoellick HONORARY TRUSTEES Eleanor Ames Robert and Anne Bass Curtis and Patricia Blake Robert and Sylvia Blake Frederic A. Bourke Jr. Tristram and Ruth Colket Gail Cook Shelby and Gale Davis FEATURE ARTICLES Dianna Emory Frances Fitzgerald 8 The Future of Our Parks Is in Our Hands Brownie Carson Sheldon Goldthwait Neva Goodwin The role and reach of the citizen-advocate Paul and Eileen Growald John and Polly Guth 10 FOA Donates Community Forest and Trail Stephanie Clement Paul Haertel to Town of Trenton Lee Judd Collaborating to provide “a luxury and a necessity” to gateway residents Debby Lash Linda Lewis 11 Making Acadia’s Classic Signs Jim Linnane Liz Martinez Gerrish and Phoebe Milliken Volunteers benefi t the park in the winter sign shop George J. and Heather Mitchell Joseph Murphy 12 People of the Dawnland Julia Clark Janneke Neilson The Wabanaki and Mount Desert Island before colonization & George Neptune Nancy Nimick Jack Perkins 15 A Runner’s Paradise Louie Luchini Nancy Pyne Nathaniel P. Reed For a seasoned competitor, Acadia can’t be beat Ann R. Roberts David Rockefeller 17 Embrace Restraint at Acadia National Park Rock by Rock Charlie Jacobi Jeannine Ross Resisting the urge to “improve” upon Acadia Howard Solomon Erwin Soule Diana Davis Spencer 18 Acadia Takes a New Look at Park Passes Aimee Beal Church Julia Merck Utsch Friends of Acadia supports the effort, and hopes you will too EMERITUS TRUSTEES 32 Why I’m a Friend of Acadia Tyra Hanson W. Kent Olson Like Living in a Painting Charles R. Tyson Jr. FRIENDS OF ACADIA STAFF ACTIVITIES AND DEPARTMENTS Mary Boëchat, Development Offi cer Sharon Broom, Development Offi cer 1 President’s Message Silver Linings Aimee Beal Church, Communications & Outreach Coordinator 3 Superintendent’s View Science and Partnerships to Improve Acadia Stephanie Clement, Conservation Director Ralph and Susan Nurnberger Lisa Horsch Clark, Director of Development 5 Special People Sarah Curts, Accounting & Administrative Associate 7 Where in Acadia? David R. MacDonald, President & CEO 20 Updates Diana R. McDowell, Director of Finance & Administration Mike Staggs, Offi ce Manager 29 Advocacy Corner Let’s Keep Reminding Congress about Parks 30 Book Reviews 31 Chairman’s Letter Friendships Old and New 2 Spring 2014 Friends of Acadia Journal Superintendent’s View Science and Partnerships to Improve Acadia n the mid-1990s, our park staff was sur- ing it to on-the-ground planning and resto- prised to discover that fi sh in Hodgdon ration projects within key park watersheds. Iand Seal Cove Ponds were contaminated We are not stopping there, though. with mercury. Years of research later, Acadia Schoodic Institute and the park are hosting is now one of the best-studied locations in and working with National Geographic, the world when it comes to mercury and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Natural conservation. Research in Acadia has con- History Museum in London, and many tributed to policies to reduce mercury pol- other organizations to develop a new lution from power plants and other major international Citizen Science Association to sources. While mercury emissions are now foster communication, collaboration, and declining, mercury pollution is still a prob- professional development in citizen science. lem for much of our wildlife. We want to make Acadia an international Science is critical to making Acadia the leader in this budding fi eld—we think special place it is and keeping it that way for it has the potential to improve science, our children and grandchildren.