A recording of the hybrid in-person/virtual Acadia Advisory Committee Meeting hosted on June 5, 2023 in the "training trailer" at Acadia National Park headquarters campus in Bar Harbor, Maine. Updates are shared by park officials, Friends of Acadia, and Schoodic Institute.
Acadia National Park Headquarters, Bar Harbor, ME
Meeting Platform: In person & Virtual via Zoom
June 05, 1:00 p.m.
Attendance:
Ben ‘Lee’ Worcester, Chair
Fred Ehrlenbach, Member
Jacqueline Johnston, Member
Carolyn Gothard, Member
Ken Smith, Member
Kendall Davis, Member
Howie Motenko, Member
Bonnie Newsom, Member
Stephen Shea, Member
Carl Brooks, Member
Brandon Bies, Deputy Superintendent, ANP
Darren Belskis, Chief of Visitor & Resource Protection, ANP
Keith Johnston, Chief of Facilities, ANP
Amanda Pollock, Public Affairs Officer, ANP
John Kelly, Management Assistant, ANP
Adam Gibson, Social Scientist, ANP
Rebecca Cole-Will, Chief of Resource Management
Becca Stanley, FOA
Stephanie Clement, Vice President of Conservation, Friends of Acadia
Eric Stiles, President & CEO, Friends of Acadia
Nick Fisichelli, President & CEO, Schoodic Institute
Congressional Representatives
Members of the Public
Staff of ANP
News Media
Absent Members
G. Bruce Wiersma, Vice Chair
Matt Horton, Member
Opening Remarks
The Commission Chair, Ben (Lee) Worcester, called the meeting of the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission, Monday, June 05, 2023, 1:00 p.m. to order.
Announcement that Dexter Lee, who was a charter member of this organization, passed away within the last couple of weeks. Dexter was the representative for Swan’s Island. He probably had the title of Mr. Swan’s Island at some time in his career. He was a good friend and did good work for this commission.
Another announcement which I just learned is that Katherine Heidinger has passed away. Katherine was the representative for the Town of Winter Harbor and has served for about 12 years on this commission. She was very active in her own community.
Both Dexter and Katherine gave a lot of great counsel during their time on the commission. Dexter and Katherine will be missed.
Approval of the Agenda
A motion was made by Fred Ehrlenbach and seconded by Callie Gothard to accept the agenda for the June 05, 2023, meeting; all approved as is, no opposed. Motion carries.
*Technical issues with audio on virtual
Approval of the Minutes
A motion was made by Ken Smith and seconded by Fred Ehrlenbach to accept the minutes of February 06, 2023. All approved, no opposed. Motion carries.
Superintendent's Report
Brandon Bies, Deputy Superintendent
Welcome – Brandon Bies, Deputy Superintendent
*Technical Issues with audio on virtual
Introductions (Brandon Bies)
Introduction of Darren Belskis, Chief Ranger of Visitor & Resource Protection. Darren is replacing our previous Chief Ranger who went on to a new position. Darren previously served as our Deputy Chief Ranger. We are happy to hire Darren as our new Chief Ranger.
We are close to selecting the new Chief of Visitor Experience & Education
We will have a new division and be selecting a Chief of Project Management. This is a new division as we are splitting out facility management.
We are also close to naming a new Trails Supervisor in the coming weeks.
We will be hiring a new Law Enforcement Supervisor for the Schoodic district.
We have a new term project manager, Kathy Bourque-Parker. Kathy will be the lead on a couple of our major construction projects. She was unable to join us today.
Park Updates (Brandon Bies)
Seasonal Hiring
We put out advertisements for 174 seasonal positions and, so far, have hired 114. A major driver is a lack of seasonal housing. We also saw fewer applicants and for the first time, we had 30 applicants selected for positions who later turned down those jobs because they received a better offer from somewhere else, another park, or a more lucrative position, mainly due to the competitive labor market. The heaviest impacts are for road crews, crews who rehabilitate trails and repair carriage roads, and custodial. We are still actively trying to hire and fill the positions. We also have a shortage in our dispatch operation. We do have announcements or certificates that are currently opened for generalist rangers, custodial positions, etc., and we are optimistic the 114 number will move a little bit. The term for seasonal employment is generally 6 months.
We need to help people get through what can be a complicated hiring process. Amanda Pollock, Public Affair Officer, has been helping to get the word out about the types of jobs available within the park service and how to navigate the hiring process. Amanda is going to speak at Jackson Lab about opportunities at Acadia National Park.
The Federal Government sets what the pay should be for specific positions based on locality areas within the United States. A major metropolitan area, i.e., San Francisco, New York, etc., has a higher rated pay for the same job as here because there's a higher cost of living. We are under ‘the rest of the U.S’. The cost of living, here, specifically on the island and immediate surrounding areas, is
at times as expensive as these other urban areas but we are not included in a locality area and have no ability to set a higher pay rate. Every position and every grade pay level has a position description. That is something that is typically certified by the Office of Personnel Management. But we're looking at better incentives for employees, especially permanent employees. And we need to do a better job talking about the benefits of working for the Federal Government. Because we do offer a lot the private sector doesn't offer.
Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day weekend was busy. In terms of the year, I think it will be close to the 4 million visit range.
Projects
I would like to thank the commission members who were here for the groundbreaking ceremony for the new maintenance facility. We had an exciting groundbreaking for the Acadia Gateway Center, especially important for the transportation structure for Acadia National Park. Both projects are about a year and a half for the construction and, hopefully, both will be on time and able to support the park for the 2025 season.
Concessions
Talked briefly about the concessions for commercial road base tours. In the 2019 transportation plan for the park, we discussed moving back to doing a concession operation for the operators of tour buses through the park. We had concessions contracts for tour bus operators up until about 2013 when they expired. Theywere extended a couple of times until we could no longer extend it. We then had to move to Commercial Use Authorizations, a different tool to allow different operators to come in with the tour buses. We are now ready for those concession prospectus and opportunities to be announced. We may have more updates in the next meeting or after that and will be moving our road-based tours towards a handful of concession operators that will manage the bus operations through the park. We are talking about road based commercial tours from cruise ship passengers and other private tourists. This is separate from the Island Explorer. The tour buses will be kept at no more than 38’ in length, which is comparable to Oli’s Trolly buses.
Fee Increase
We are moving forward with a fee increase up to the top tier in line with Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. Effective April 1st, 2023, fees were increased to $35.00 for a 7-day (one-week) Acadia National Park entrance pass.
Otter Creek Boat Launch
The Mount Desert Board of Selectmen met to discuss the proposal to expand the boat launch at Otter Creek. At the previous meeting, the Board of Selectmen commissioned a private engineering firm to look at the feasibility and constructability of a larger turnaround and what it would require in terms of land. Their report was presented to the Selectboard. The park has received a copy of the report which we are actively reviewing. The Selectboard voted the town should pursue acquiring additional park land to build this larger boat launch and turnaround. The selectboard has charged the town manager with acquiring the land.
I had a virtual conversation with the town manager for the Town of Mount Desert and we're planning up with a follow-up meeting with the town manager, Mr. Lunt, in a couple of weeks to look at the proposal and discuss what the options look like. The land on both sides is owned by the federal government. We (park)do not have the authority to donate land. It would need to be some sort of exchange to take place. Exchange is really the only action of authority we have and it takes time. We will continue to look and keep the commission updated.
Housing (Brandon Bies)
We have made some progress on employee housing, especially seasonal housing. The park is excited we have been provided funding to begin the design process to build out Harden Farms. Currently, it is two four apartment units that date back to the 1960s off Kebo. We hope to have the design completed by the end of this calendar year. We are looking at building about 50 to 60 beds at that location. We are hopeful that construction starts as soon as next year. This has been the plan for a very long time but we never had the funding to make it happen. It’s advantageous because it is on existing park lands and there are no immediate neighbors. There is a golf course across the street and a cemetery next door. It is easy access to the park and to the town of Bar Harbor. It will be relatively easy to connect to the existing water and sewer network. We have funding for the project. We are meeting with the Bar Harbor town council in the next few weeks to share our plans and details.
We are in hopes to eventually add about 125-150 beds to support park employees, and key partners like Friends of Acadia and Island Explorer employees. This will help with the shortage of explorer drivers.
Construction Updates (Keith Johnston)
We currently have two major projects. The first project funded through The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and the Legacy Restoration Fund project is the construction of our new maintenance facility. We have received the Notice to Proceed. The contract went out to Nickerson & O’Day. Their trailers are onsite and security fence up.The second project with the GAOA is rehabilitating the water-waste water infrastructure at Schoodic. We are replacing the wastewater and sewer line from the wellhouse to the wastewater treatment plant. We are tightening up the sewer system and filtration system. And a bigger project next year would be eliminating the wastewater treatment plant and replacing it with a new substation.
We hired a term project manager, Kathy Bourque-Parker. Kathy is a civil engineer from Alaska. She also worked for Rockland. Kathy is working onsite coordinating the park’s interactions with contractors to make sure operations stay functioning and there is effective communication with the liaison.
*Audio issues (cutting in and out)
The Cadillac Summit Road is under construction for replacing culverts. Repaving should take place in the fall or spring. Timelines can be affected by weather and other conditions. They are paving on the Park Loop Road on the one-way and campground entrance roads. Also, the ranger station at Thunder Hole is getting a new roof, windows, and having siding work done through the Historic Preservation Training Center.
And currently, there is one lane by Great Meadow as a section of the culvert collapsed in the unfortunate flooding event. The contract is to repair that culvert for a temporary fix. And they will be initiating a large stone culvert project up the road for the drainage issues in the meadow to restore the partnership of the wetland.
Last, either this summer or next depending on contracting timelines, preservation masonry work will be done inside the arches of the causeway at Otter Cove to preserve the arches. Currently, the masonry has fallen out of the joints and they will be putting masonry back in the joints.
BIL Project Updates and Sweetgrass Harvesting Consultation – (Rebecca Cole-Will)
Last year I told you about the funding we received through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for ecosystem restoration for Great Meadow and Bass Harbor Marsh.
Great Meadow wetland has been managed and controlled at the outlet by an under-sized culvert which will be replaced with a larger, improved culvert with a larger 12-foot span. With additional funding for this project, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), we are looking at restoration work to be completed. Work has begun this year to remove invasive plants and plant test beds of native plants and design work for trails rehabilitation projects. We have significant support from Friends of Acadia that have been investing in the initiative for the restorative work and the Schoodic institute who are bringing the science and research around how to do restoration in a freshwater wetland with adaptation for the future and continuing to support recreation resources. We are looking at restoration work on the motor road pull-off to provide better, and safer, visitor access of the landscape and viewshed, as well as reconnecting the connector trails into the park. We plan to be doing rehabilitation and adaptation of trails in the Great Meadow to provide accessibility. Friends of Acadia has raised an endowment of $6 million and an additional $420,000 grant to support this work. Schoodic Institute is partnering to provide scientific research coordination and field biologists who are working with Acadia’s invasive plant and vegetation restoration team led by Jesse Wheeler.
The second project BIL funded is Bass Harbor Marsh (175 acres) which is the largest salt marsh in Acadia National Park. It is important habitat for rare birds and is a culturally significant landscape for traditional harvesting of sweetgrass by Wabanaki people from the four federally recognized Indian Tribes affiliated with Acadia. We are doing significant work removing invasive plants, while working closely with the Wabanaki tribes. We are working toward understanding the access and harvesting of sweet grass, a cultural plant which is a large and important landscape and point of access for the Wabanaki. So, we are working on the project on what restoration looks like for respective farm landscapes.
And we've been working since 2015 around building the permitting and understanding the access of rights for harvesting the sweet grass in Acadia. And that works continues as well.
Cadillac Reservation System Research (Adam Gibson and Becca Stanley)
Reservation Update - Adam shared a PowerPoint presentation - Summary.
Visitation levels still appear elevated in 2023.
There were some minor shifts in use of the vehicle reservation system.
Fewer reservations were sold in 2022.
The no-show rate was slightly higher in 2022.
Fewer visitors made same-day reservations in 2022.
The turnaround rate was lower in 2022.
There were fewer sold-out days in 2022.
These changes could be the result of larger visitation changes and/or increased familiarity with vehicle reservation systems.
Use of the vehicle reservation system is highly variable and largely dependent on weather. A better understanding of this relationship could lead to better use of the system.
2021 and 2022 Vehicle Reservation Numbers
2021
2022
Days in operation
147
151
Reservations available
235,817
244,129
Total reservations sold
199,631
191,592
% Sunrise reservations sold
100%
100%
% Daytime reservations sold
83%
78%
Daytime no-show rate
22%
27%
% Reservations made the same day
42%
36%
Turnaround Rate
28%
18%
Sold-out days (<100 left unsold)
48
31
Reservation System Research - Becca shared a PowerPoint presentation. (Disclaimer: The data depicted in this presentation was obtained from an independent study conducted by the University of Maine School of Forest Resources with the support of Friends of Acadia. The National Park Service did not supervise or fund this research project.)
Between June and August 2021, there were 1501 surveys completed, both paper and electronic, at locations on Cadillac summit for their experience. I did systematic random sampling from every 3rd visitor, 18 years and older and on the summit for at least 15 minutes. 1501 participated in the survey. 1250 traveled in their personal vehicle. My scope of research was only for those on the summit.
53% said this was their first to time to Cadillac mountain. 66% said this was their first time in a reservation system or a management access system. 58% (634) said they did not have any issues obtaining a permit where 42% (449) reported issues. The primary reasons were 1) first choice of time slot or day was unavailable or 2) limited cellular data.
40% said the overall experience improved from their last visit to Cadillac. 43% said it remained the same, 13% said there was no improvement, and 4% did not remember. 96% was extremely satisfied with the opportunity to explore at their own pace with 3% satisfied. 92% was extremely satisfied with the unobstructed view of the scenery, with 4% satisfied. 53% was extremely satisfied with finding a parking spot with 40% satisfied.
Summarization: To summarize here, the visitors in the reservation system understand that there's a benefit to the system. Prior to the Cadillac mountain reservation system, you had the freedom of access. But you had to understand there were periods you may have had to wait in line. Now with the reservation system you have this certainty of access. So, when you purchase this permit, you understand you can go essentially when you want. And if you don't get the reservation that you want, people who didn't get their first desired slot, and would get bumped to a less desirable time, still found their experience to be a high-quality experience
Island Explorer Updates/Acadia Gateway Center (John Kelly)
John shared the new rack card with instructions for the reservation system.
The Island Explorer has started its 24th season. They started running May 24th at Schoodic and will start on MDI on June 23rd and run through October 9th. In 2019, they operated with 648,000 riders, 294,000 in 2021, and last year, 2022, with 415,000 riders. They did not operate in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. We are seeing a trend moving back up. But it is not going to bounce back the way visitation did because of the general trend to avoid public transit.
The main issue now is the lack of drivers. Drivers are required to have a commercial driver’s license (CDL). There is a lack of drivers with a CDL. The goal is to hire120 drivers annually. This year, only 80 drivers have been hired to date. So, the Island Explorers will continue all 11 routes they served last year but will have reduced times so there will be lesser service provided.
About 65% of the operating funding comes from the National Park. 100% of the funding we transfer through a cooperative agreement to Downeast Transportation, comes from the entrance fee. That increase attributes to the operation of the bus service.
This year, there is a pilot for electric buses. We are looking at working with the national USDOT, Department of Energy, the State of Maine, and the Downeast Transportation to pilot 5 different buses over a 7-week period to analyze how they perform and how we can eventually transition from propane to mostly electric. The busses comes at no cost to Downeast Transportation. The bus companies want to put their product on the road and see if they can operate within the confines of the island explorer route. The buses will be operating on the Cadillac route.
There are currently 32 propane buses in the system now which have a 7–10-year life span. They were purchased between 2019 and 2021. So, they have 7 years of life left to them, the amount of time needed to transition from propane to electric. We do not do specific polling directly but the Island Explorer does an annual survey every fall which will be available for us to share with the commission. There will be temporary charging stations at the operations center, which are donated for a short period this summer. However, they will be removed after the pilot is completed.
Fred Ehrlenbach: Have you coordinated with the fire department on responding to fires involving the electric buses?
Old Business
Status of Appointments (Brandon Bies)
We have two new appointments to announce for three-year terms.
New appointment, Mr. Carl Brooks was appointed on April 18th, representing the Town of Cranberry Isles on a 3-year term. We have not had a representative for Cranberry Isles for some time and we are excited to have Carl on board. We welcome Mr. Brooks to the Commission.
Also joining us for her second meeting is Dr. Bonnie Newsom. Bonnie was appointed representing the Public at Large on January 24th.
The reappointment of Katherine Heidinger was on January 24th. Again, we just received the sad news on Katherine’s passing a half hour before this meeting. We will be going through the process of receiving a nomination from the Town of Winter Harbor since the position is now vacant.
We went through the process with many of you on the commission and members of the public and a large packet was submitted to Washington for 13 positions. There are 13 positions which nominations have been submitted to Washington for either reappointment or new appointments. (This includes the 3 vacant positions).
Member-at-Large – 2 positions
State of Maine – 3 positions
Town of Bar Harbor – 1 position
Town of Frenchboro – 1 position
Town of Gouldsboro – 1 position
Town of Mount Desert – 1 position
Town of Southwest Harbor – 1 position
Town of Swan’s Island – 1 position
Town of Tremont – 1 position
Town of Trenton – 1 position
In some cases, there were multiple nominees for each position. The recommendations were carried forward. All nominees are reviewed by the White House Liaison Office in D.C. for clearance. The Liaison’s Office and the Secretary of Interior’s office will make the final decisions and appointment letters will come from the Secretary of the Interior. As a reminder, this process could take some time. So those of you currently serving and representing in that capacity will continue to serve until either a successor is named or are you reappointed in that position.
We had a number of folks nominated and some of them are either here in person or joined us online. And they're able to do so as members of the public. And continue to do so unless, and until, they end up getting appointed in that position. With that, any questions I can take. Kathy Flanders is also a great source in how this process works. She does about 90% of the communications with D.C.
New Business
Update on Election of Officers (Callie Gothard)
According to our Bylaws we have made nominations before 30 days prior to this meeting. And we were successful. Ken Smith nominated Ben (Lee) Worcester to continue as chair. Lee Worcester nominated Bruce Wiersma to continue as Vice Chair. And I (Carolyn Gothard) nominated Howie Motenko to Secretary. We can vote in aggregate.
All of these members have been nominated. Fred Ehrlenbach moved to accept the officers as stated. Do we hear a second? Jackie Johnston seconded. All agreed to approve the slate of officers. No opposed. Motion carries.
I would indicate that according to our bylaws we are limited to three consecutive terms.
Committee Reports
Science & Education Committee – No Report
Park Use Committee – No Report
Lands Committee – No Report
History Committee – No Report
Friends of Acadia
Stephanie Clement, Vice President of Conservation
I apologize, Eric just stepped out. I am Stephanie Clement, Vice President for Conservation for Friends of Acadia. It's an exciting time to be working in partnership at the park. This week we were out in the Great Meadow talking about the project to be done there. The project is not only engineering and replacement of the culvert that allow for better water flow, but also trying to improve the biodiversity of the wetland species and making better passage for the critters and preventing flooding downstream neighbors.Similarly, the Acadia Gateway Center is finally happening. That's another great project that will, hopefully, improve better transportation circulation and access for the visitors to the park.
Our seasonal hiring is complete. Many of them are out in training. The Summit Stewards are out. Our recreation technicians are working with Becca and Adam this summer. It's a great crew starting here at the park.
Two other quick things, the Wild Gardens of Acadia plant sale will be from 9:00 to noon on June 17th, at the Saint Savior Church. It is a large fund raiser to support the operation of maintenance of the wild gardens at Sieur de Mont. And then moving to advocacy issues. As many of you know, we've been very concerned about aquaculture recently. And the large proposals that were out in Frenchmen Bay for salmon farms. It may have gone away; however, the company keeps saying that they do plan on returning. Whether they choose to return to this site or not is another question. We've been working with Senator Grohoski on how to tackle the aquaculture issue in two different ways. One is a bill that haspassed the Senate Committee but not the house and Senate at the state. That would limit the stocking densities in salmon pens throughout the coastline of the whole state. That's a small change but abeginning for the issue. But it would have prevented American Aquacultures from coming back with the size and scale of stocking density in their pens if they did. The other side of the bill that Senator Grohoski has been working on is more tied to water quality and looking for effluent from pens, not only oceanbased systems, but also land-based aquaculture systems, thinking about the of the nutrient pollution you can see from hills. So, we appreciate her efforts working at the state level on these two issues and hopefully will prevent these out-of-scale salmon farms from happening here at the coast.
Housing is a number one thing when we were going through the hiring process. When bringing the candidates, we would like to hire from across the country, we have to find somewhere for them to live. I would like to commend my colleagues, Stephanie Ley, who is the Summit Steward Coordinator, forworking in the community to find places for those people. And many Friends of Acadia members stepped up to the plate and said we can offer a room at our house or we can offer housing temporarily to tie them over. It's worked out for this year. Every year it's a struggle. The housing initiatives are key to this whole process.
Another thing I forgot to mention, we also have a new hire. Lauren Gibson will be starting as the Wild Acadia Coordinator. She is not starting until July but we're thrilled to have her on board. And she's on the staff detailed to park headquarters and works with the resource management team on the Wild Acadia initiatives.
Eric Stiles, President and CEO, Friends of Acadia
I want to amplify what we all know. There's a housing crisis here and it’s impacting the park. If you start putting these key projects off, the park is going to suffer, the community will suffer, and visitors willsuffer. We're excited to partner with the park and elected officials to bring solutions to the table.
We're taking a four-prong approach to this. One is the park has a tremendous number of houses in their inventory. We are looking at adding rooms to existing structures, i.e., taking a garage and converting it into an apartment and taking an unfinished business and converted it to one or two bedrooms. Through that approach, putting an additional 12 to 13 beds in the inventory. This past winter, Friends of Acadiasupported the park that did the work, 2 beds at Seal Cove and 1 bed at Dermott House, so that is 3 beds we have added this season.
The second approach, we're trying not to make a bad situation worse, by having Friends of Acadia purchasing single family homes. We know others are approaching that strategy, teachers, nurses, firefighters, restaurant managers, that need a place to live on the island. So, we're looking at acquisition of commercial properties. We purchased and closed on the Kingsleigh Inn, a bed and breakfast in Southwest Harbor. So now it's going to be used as seasonal housing for the National Park. We will continue to pay property taxes. I know that's very important. But we will continue to support where it is located.
Third approach is adding additional units to the National Park. Only the National Park can develop the National Park. We are not looking at a limited land base or competing with the rest of the employers on the island. We have a good place, and we are looking at a second site. Again, what excites me is the National Park also designs for higher standard, it costs more to build but it is designed for a 60-build life span. They are built to last.
In response to questions from Howie Motenko: A letter was sent out to resident of Seal Harbor regarding one of our projects. The initial structure will consist of two units, one with 5 bedrooms and one with three, each with a single bed on Jordon Pond Road. It is still in the feasibility stage. We will be giving that to the national park. I cannot say that the national park, at some future date, will not say they will add more units. We are trying to be fully transparent. We want to meet with the public to hear their concerns. We are committed to answering the questions to get it right.
The fourth approach looking at renting trailer pads and adding additional units to the National Park. We are paying for 7 trailer pads for this season for folks who come here, whether they are staff or VIPs that have trailers for the summer seasons or longer into the shoulder seasons.
I want to thank our incredible Congressional delegates. We have had constructive conversations with our park leadership about bringing more dollars to the table here from D.C. to invest in the National Park. I think it's important for taxpayers to see their monies coming back to the communities, whether it’s for the maintenance building here or the Acadia Gateway Center. And now we're bringing additional federal funds that Friends of Acadia will be doing a fundraising for a philanthropic match. We do not replace tax dollars; we work to augment them through these projects. We're excited to be a partner organization taking that four-prong approach. We are not committed to owning the Kingsleigh in perpetuity. So that's my short version. And Stephanie got to tell you about all the great work that these houses will provide. The Kingsleigh Inn will be owned by FOA but it will be operated and managed by the National Park. We're going to be charging them a dollar a year. Sites cannot be located so far from the national park that the staff who maintain them must travel. Trenton would likely be included in areas we are looking at.
Schoodic Institute Update
Nicholas Fisichelli, President & CEO
So, first, thank you all and I want to acknowledge Katherine Heidinger who in addition to being a member of the Acadia Advisory Commission, she was also a founding board member of Schoodic Institute. She served on the board for 14 years. And she was wise, warm, and insightful. And we greatly miss her.
So, we’ve heard a lot on science, which has been awesome. And my favorite subject to talk about. And great things happening in the park, the big restoration projects, and Great Meadow, Harbor Marsh, and the summit area of Cadillac and other summits. There are some great restoration projects. And these are great collaborations of the National Park Service, Friends of Acadia, and Schoodic Institute. And recently we brought a group of advisors together for the restoration projects. We had experts from Colorado, Nevada, West Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maine to help with the summit restoration project on the summit in the park. And in two weeks, there is the event to get soil to the summit of Sergeant Mountain on June 21st, Summer Solstice.
So, there's been a lot of talk on science. I'll focus more on education. And so, this spring, we have the Schoodic Education Adventure (SEA) program, which is our outdoor school program, the three-day, twonight education program that happens on the Schoodic institute campus for middle school classes. This is the final week for the SEA program. And we had 250 students from 10 schools across four counties in Maine come for it this year. It's great to have that many students for the SEA program. And we see this as the flagship education program happening here in Acadia.
And there are other similar programs across the state at other outdoor schools such as the 4-H Centers, Ecology School, and Chewonki Foundation. We believe that every student in Maine should have the opportunity to come to one of these programs such as the SEA program. And among all our centers we reached less than 20% of students in the state. There's legislation introduced in Augusta to create state funding. It's an act to support outdoor school for all Maine students. It has 114 cosponsors in the legislature, which is almost 2/3 of the full legislature. All state Senators have signed on as sponsors on the bill. It's on the agricultural, conservation, and forestry committee with unanimous support and it is now back to the full legislature.
Funding is going to be a big challenge for this. To fully fund the program to get the 14,000 students for the outdoor program will be about $6.2 million per year. There's a couple of states that already have programs, Washington state and Oregon. So, we have designed the outdoor programs in Maine on those models. And hopefully we'll have some success for getting at least partial funding from the state to help support more middle students coming to Acadia for the education programs.
And then also, at the federal level, there's legislation that Senator Susan Collins was a cosponsor on. ‘No child Left Inside’ has been one of the handles for that legislation. There’s a pilot that is part of that legislation that could also bring some funding to the state to support more students coming to the SEA program. We really appreciate that. Hopefully it will have success well. LD17-18 at the state level to support outdoor school for the students.
I guess I'll finish with saying, it's already the beginning of a very busy season. We have had about 25 seasonal employees in different positions so far, and teaching assistants. And this last week research fellows, interns, and field technicians started. And so, the summer season is in full swing.
Any questions? Thank you.
Advisory Commission Comments
None
Public Comment
No public comments.
Closing Comments
The Commission Vice Chair made closing comments. With no further comments. I move we make a motion to adjourn. Ken Smith made a motion to adjourn. Fred Ehrlenbach seconded. All agree – no oppose. Motion carries.
Adjournment
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 11th , 2023, 1:00 p.m. at Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor. It will continue to be an in-person and virtual meeting as published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.
Meeting adjourned at 3:02 pm
Minutes Submitted by Kathy Flanders
