The News from Acadia

75th Anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), designed by Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the New Deal to provide relief from the Great Depression. The CCC employed over two million young men to work in America’s parks and forests, creating and renovating roads, trails, campsites, social halls, amphitheaters and visitor centers.

The CCC offered work to Americans in a time of great instability, but more importantly, it offered disheartened citizens the chance to improve the nation’s future, while strengthening their own dignity and hope. They were making history by providing easier access to the treasures of the national park system.

Nicknamed "Roosevelt's Tree Army," the CCC was operated through the cooperative efforts of four departments. The Department of Labor oversaw the selection of enrollees, the Army ran the camps, and the Interior and Agriculture departments provided work projects.

Initially, unmarried men, between the ages of 18 and 25 and from families on relief, could apply. They enlisted for six months, with an option to reenlist for up to two years. The "CCC boys" worked for $30 a month, $25 of which was sent to their families. Eventually, "Local Experienced Men" (LEMs) and World War I veterans could enroll. Although a few work camps were established for women, most CCC enrollees were men.

Nationwide, the CCC operated 4,500 camps! The CCC advanced natural resource conservation by decades, and provided education, training and experience for a generation of young men and women. Since then, millions of visitors to the national park system have enjoyed the work of the CCCs!

Parks nationwide are commemorating the inspiring government leaders and hardworking young men that made up the Civilian Conservation Corps, and its contributions to parks across the country! Happy Birthday Civilian Conservation Corps!

Feds Start Probe into Park Ranger Brutality Claim

The National Park Service has begun its investigation into allegations that a ranger used excessive force last week when dealing with a large party of hikers atop Day Mountain, according to an official with the agency.

Hiker in Acadia Says Ranger Assaulted Him

Just by looking at Tim Wild, it’s easy to tell that something happened to him.

Wild, a waiter at the Jordan Pond House in this scenic park on Mount Desert Island, has a large purple bruise under his left eye and the left side of his face is swollen. A black contusion marks his left shoulder, where he was thrown to the ground while handcuffed, he said. Red scratches on his right wrist, he said, were caused by the police handcuffs he was wearing.

Maine's Rugged Bold Coast a Hidden Jewel

Hikers who perch atop a nearly 100-foot rock cliff that plunges to the crashing surf below are greeted by a spectacular vista with no signs of civilization, perhaps the same scene that caught the eyes of European explorers who passed by these shores 400 years ago.

From Pulpit Rock, we gazed up and down the coast for miles in both directions, onto a landscape unchanged through time: no buildings, no boats, not even another person.

"To look down the coast and not see anything -- it's amazing," said Lindsay McMahon, the local ranger for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Adorama Photographs America: Acadia National Park

Acadia was the first National Park to be created east of the Mississippi river and despite being relatively small (around 40,000 acres) it's one of the most visited of all the National Parks. Not too surprising since it's the only National Park in New England and it's within a day's drive for over 50 million people. It receives over 2 million visitors each year. Yellowstone National Park gets 3 million visitors, but at over 2 million acres it's 50 times as big.

PARTNERS IN GRIME

The deluge of rainfall that has made Vacationland feel more like Waterworld this summer has done more than ruin vacation plans.

It's damaged trails used for hiking, biking and horseback riding throughout the state -- so much so that some parks are beginning to restrict their use.

22 Great Things For Kids To Do At Acadia National Park

Friends of mine from New York have taken their two boys, 8 and 11, out of school for a year to travel the world. Since their dad is the former publisher of National Geographic Kids, they have a pretty wonderful itinerary. I’m pleased to say that Acadia National Park was their second stop, and after two days younger son Stefan asked his parents if they could just stay on Mount Desert Island for the rest of the year. Stefan may have a future himself in travel publishing. Even at his age, he concurs with the editors of Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler who consistently rank Mount Desert Island as one of the most beautiful islands in the world.

Acadia Park Chief to Speak On “No Child Left Inside”

WINTER HARBOR — Acadia National Park Superintendent Sheridan Steele will speak at the “2nd Saturday” lecture series at the Moore Auditorium on the campus of the Schoodic Education and Research Center on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 7 p.m. The title of Steele’s presentation is “Mother Nature Knows Best: No Child Left Inside.”

Steele will discuss the variety of reasons that children are not playing outdoors much, and the implications that this will have on the mental, physical and spiritual health of future generations.

Cliffs closed after massive rock fall

ACADIA NAT’L PARK — A rockslide involving boulders larger than some cars has indefinitely closed ocean-side climbing areas at Otter Cliffs. Park officials must decide where and what kind of anchor to install in order to make the area safe for climbing, said ranger Stuart West.

When the park’s two expert climbers – David Smith and Therese Picard – inspected the area this week and removed debris, they found chalk marks – an indication that someone has already climbed on the new and unstable rock face. The park also received reports over the weekend that at least one climber had disregarded the signs. “This could have been a real tragedy,” said Mr. West.

Acadia National Park: Park rangers dislodge pickup-size boulder

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine - Park rangers dislodged a potentially dangerous pickup truck-size boulder from Otter Cliff on Saturday, park officials reported.

"It was a precariously balancing boulder," said Stuart West of the National Park Service. "It was held in place by each end only. Daylight was visible behind the remaining boulder on the cliff’s edge."

There were no witnesses when an estimated 19,000 pounds of granite broke away from the cliff on the evening of Tuesday, July 15, for unknown reasons, according to West.

“Eco-resort” Proponents to Make Their Case at Winter Harbor Meeting

Who are these guys?That’s among the questions swirling around a proposed “conservation community” that calls for development of 3,200 acres in Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro that abut Schoodic Point.

That and other questions may be answered at a public meeting to be held in Winter Harbor at the Peninsula School gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14.

For nearly two months, a team of consultants representing the property’s owners has been meeting privately with officials from both towns, nonprofit organizations and the representatives of the National Park Service, which oversees the 2,400-acre Schoodic Section of Acadia National Park.

House approves Acadia funds

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a bill that would allow Acadia National Park to acquire more land and build a station on the mainland from which to bus visitors to Mount Desert Island.

The provisions are included in a larger natural resources bill, which the Senate approved earlier this month. The bill will be sent to President Bush, who is expected to sign it.

Acadia National Park is Maine’s only national park. A study by Michigan State University indicated that Acadia brings almost $130 million in visitor spending to the region and supports more than 2,600 jobs.

Hundreds of volunteers turn out for annual Acadia park cleanup

Every April, hundreds of volunteers take to the streets and roads of Mount Desert Island, sacrificing a few precious Saturday hours to preserve the beauty around Maine’s only national park.

About 400 volunteers split into small teams spent several hours canvassing nearly 150 miles on MDI and the Schoodic Point section of Acadia National Park, cleaning up several tons of trash from the roadsides.

What keeps most coming back to the event held the last Saturday of April each year to coincide with Earth Day is knowing that their efforts make a difference and things do improve.