ACADIA NATIONAL PARK ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
Acadia National Park Headquarters
Bar Harbor, Maine
February 05, 2024 1:00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE:
Ben ‘Lee’ Worcester, Chair
G. Bruce Wiersma, Vice Chair
Carl Brooks, Member
Darron Collins, Member
Jeffrey Clapp, Member
Fred Ehrlenbach, Member
Kirk Emerson, Member
Jacqueline Johnston, Member
Carolyn Gothard, Member
Ken Smith, Member
Kendall Davis, Member
Howie Motenko, Member
Bonnie Newsom, Member
Stephen Shea, Member
Kevin Schneider, Superintendent, ANP
Darren Belskis, Chief of Visitor & Resource Protection, ANP
Rebecca Cole-Will, Chief of Resource Management, ANP
Joy Absher, Chief of Visitor Experience & Education, ANP
Matt Outhier, Chief of Project Management, ANP
Amanda Pollock, Public Affairs Officer, ANP
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:
Matt Horton
PLATFORM:
In-person & Virtual via Zoom
OPENING REMARKS
The Commission Chair, Ben (Lee) Worcester, called the meeting of the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission, Monday, February 05, 2023, 1:00 p.m. to order.
Welcome to our new Advisory Commission members Kirk Emerson representing Frenchboro, Jeffrey Clapp representing Swans Island, and Darren Collins, member at large representing the Secretary of the Interior.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
A motion was made by Fred Ehrlenbach and seconded by Callie Gothard to accept the agenda for the February 05, 2024, meeting; all approved as is, no opposed. Motion carries.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
A motion was made by Ken Smith and seconded by Fred Ehrlenhach to accept the minutes of September 11, 2023. All approved, no opposed. Motion carries.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
WELCOME – Kevin Schneider, Superintendent
Introductions (Kevin Schneider)
Park Updates (Kevin Schneider)
Storm Damage
- Acadia was hit hard with two recent storms on January 10 and January 13. We are in the process of assessing damage. Damage is assessed by civil engineers and structural engineers. About 1,000 feet of Ocean Path along Ocean Drive was wiped out. Sections of the Park Roads were undermined, including sections of the Park Loop Road. Also undermined were buildings, like the Blue Duck on Islesford and the Bear Island Boathouse. At Schoodic, the water tower was damaged and there was extensive damage to the roof at Rockefeller Hall. Presently, we are clearing trees at Seawall campground. Seawall campground and picnic area had extensive tree damage and Seawall picnic area had cobbles up to the elevation of the gate that closes the picnic area during the winter. We currently have a crew in from other national parks to help clear the tree damage at Seawall over the next two weeks getting it ready to open in May for the season. We may have to request funding from a Disaster Supplemental Appropriations Fund. The Governor has requested the storm be considered a federal disaster.
Keith Johnston, Chief of Facilities Management, shared a brief PowerPoint of some of the damage at Acadia National Park to include Sand Beach, Ocean Path, Seawall picnic area, Ship Harbor Trail, Thompson Island, powerline damage, and Bear Island.
2023 Visitation
- 2023 was another strong year for visitation. Our preliminary numbers are not final yet but we are down 3% from 2022. This would make it the 3rd busiest year. June was a cool and rainy month and visitation was down 6% from 2022. Schoodic visitation was the same as 2021 and 2022 and they are expecting another year similar to last year.
Bluffs Vista Cutting
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When we granted the Right-of-Way, Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) committed to maintain the vista. We have been working with MDOT to do the cutting and expect it to be done before visitor season starts in the spring. They will remove all vegetation up to 3 inches in diameter along the guardrail. Weather has delayed them from cutting but they should start cutting this spring.
Island Explorer
- Ridership on the Island Explorer has been up since COVID but still down from pre-COVID. In 2023, ridership was 451,032 passengers which is still below the 647,000 passengers in 2019. We are trying to promote use of the Island Explorer. Island Explorer is working on a project with MDOT that would allow them to purchase 23 electric buses and install the necessary infrastructure. There is a 20% match NPS would be required to make. We had a pilot last year where two electric bus suppliers provided electric buses, with all charging equipment, for a weeklong test run in the park.
Solar/AFFECT Grant:
- Acadia was awarded an AFFECT grant from the Department of Energy to install solar on our new maintenance building. It is a $1 million grant for adding solar and vehicle charging stations to the maintenance building. In addition, we have received a $500,000 grant from the National Park Foundation through Friends of Acadia to help with the solar for our new maintenance building. We hope to get 70% of the electric needs for the new maintenance building generated through solar.
Bass Harbor Head Light:
- A meeting was held with the residents of the Lighthouse Road in Bass Harbor to talk about parking issues and congestion. The meeting, held at the Tremont Town Office, was facilitated by the Town Manager. There was no solution to the traffic but there was feedback from some members that conditions have been improving over the last couple of years. There was some discussion on pedestrian safety, especially where people are walking in the road. It is a narrow road with limited shoulder. We are looking at options of a parking area where people can have a ticket to ride a shuttle the short distance to the lighthouse. Our other priority is to maintain communications with the residents of Lighthouse Road and the community of Tremont.
Vehicle Reservation System:
- The first block of vehicle reservations goes on sale February 22nd. The system goes into effect on May 22nd with no major changes anticipated at Cadillac this year.
Budget:
- We are under a continuing resolution right now, which will expire on March 8th. We are planning for a tight fiscal year. Our budget will be flat and could be lower. We have a 5% pay adjustment employees received in January that is likely to be unfunded for the fiscal year, which we will need to absorb. Potentially, there may be a 1 to 2% budget reduction on top of that. We have started making hiring decisions for seasonal staffing. On March 8th we will be halfway through our fiscal year.
Hulls Cove Visitor Center:
- Senators King and Collins have introduced legislation to rename the Hulls Cove Visitor Center in honor of George Mitchell. As everyone knows, he was instrumental on setting up the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission. So that bill has been introduced in Congress but it has not had a hearing yet but it is pending.
Employee Housing Update:
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Another major project we have been working on is employee housing. Once construction is complete on Jordan Pond Road at Dane Farm, Friends of Acadia will be donating it to Acadia National Park.
Also, we are in the midst of design right now for 28 bedrooms at Harden Farms. The design will be wrapped up in early March and they expect to go out for bid to construct that later this fiscal year with construction presumably beginning after the end of the fiscal year. It is a combination of funding sources. Part of that is a Centennial Challenge which allows us to match Friends of Acadia, and other funds come from the National Park Service housing program, as well.
Those two projects will help on employee housing. There are additional beds that we may begin design for at Harden Farms on top of the 28 that we have awarded design for.
Concessions:
Updates on Construction/Maintenance Project (Keith Johnston)
Jordan Pond Road Bridge
- Work will begin on the Jordan Pond Road bridge in March. The road will close late March. The four residents on Jordan Pond Road north of the bridge can detour through Stanley Brook Road to access their residences. By Memorial Day, the bridge must be open to traffic with one lane. The second bridge to be repaired has not been awarded yet. When it is under repair, traffic will detour through Wildwood Stables and out the dirt road.
Wildwood Stables
- The floors in Wildwood Stables are being removed and replaced with a solid floor. We are not getting rid of the floor entirely. The stable floor will be separated by a waterproof membrane that keeps matters from leaching into the dirt. It will be porous and it is based on recent designs in other states. This is underway and will be done before the concessionaire comes in.
Great American Outdoor Act project:
- Maintenance Facility: The maintenance facility is going well. We are getting ready for footings in the coming week and will be relocating the other buildings down the hill.
- Schoodic Water/Wastewater: The sewer system is getting repaired and the water line replaced. They are a little bit ahead of schedule and are rebuilding the well house and the communication systems (SCADA - Supervisory Controls and Data Acquisition) associated with the water treatment plant.
Otter Creek Causeway
- This summer, the causeway masonry for the three arches below the water line will get repaired.
Cadillac Mountain Road
- This spring, there will be a couple of days we will be paving the Cadillac Mountain Road before the reservation system goes into effect.
Awards
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Two of our Division Chiefs were recognized for the highest award within the park service within their professions.
Rebecca Cole-Will received the Appleman-Judd-Lewis award. It has been a few months now, but Rebecca received the Cultural Resource Specialist award for leading the development and implementation of co-stewardship of cultural and natural resources with Wabanaki tribes. It is a reflection of the work she has done with the Wabanaki tribes in Maine. It is a great honor of Becky's tremendous accomplishments and work.
Keith Johnston received the NPS Facility Manager of the year award. He competed against all the other facility managers. Keith first competed to win the regional award and then was selected to also receive the national award. This is a great recognition of Keith's efforts over many years at Acadia, and his outstanding leadership of Acadia's facilities.
Great recognition of two of our phenomenal contributors here. We very much appreciate their work.
OLD BUSINESS
Status of Appointments (Kevin Schneider)
- All appointments are filled with 3-year appointments except for Winter Harbor. When Winter Harbor is filled, we will have a full Commission for the first time in a while. The nomination for Winter Harbor has been submitted to the Department of the Interior and is pending. We hopefully will have the appointment completed for the June Advisory Commission meeting.
Otter Creek Boat Launch presentation by (Durlin Lunt, Town Manager of Mount Desert)
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PowerPoint presentation is attached.
My name is Durlin Lunt and appearing before you today with the following request that you support the efforts to obtain an easement of approximately 3000 ft.² of land owned by Acadia National Park in the village of Otter Creek without an encumbrance of land of similar value transfer to Acadia National Park. Said land to be acquired is adjacent to the boat launch to Grover Avenue, in the village of Otter Creek, for the purpose of expanding vehicular access to the municipal facility. In particular, the village of Otter Creek would appreciate any help you can give us. I have a brief explanation of why I seek your assistance. I also like to say that a good part of the presentation was from this book, “The Waterfront of Otter Creek of Acadia National Park”. In 1993, the town meeting accepted an easement from the Interior Department to build a boat launch and pier facility in Otter Creek. The facility at this point in time is inadequate so what we want to do as an extension for that. (Gave a description of location, history of Acadia National Park, and history of Otter Creek) ………
You may say that this request cannot be accomplished without federal legislation. I believe that is the case. Let's get this legislation sponsored now and passed just as quickly as possible. If you agree as an Advisory Commission, please write to the Department of Interior and the congressional delegation asking them to immediately take steps to place this on the congressional docket. Thank you very much for your time.
(Kendall Davis): I will look to set forth the following, the Town of Mount Desert seeks the endorsement of the commission to the Department of Interior in support of the Town of Mount Desert being granted lands for its use as outlined in the following motion. I hereby make a motion of the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission to recommend that the Department of the Interior support the request of the town of Mount Desert's request for a 3000 ft. parcel of land located adjacent to the municipal landing in the village of Otter Creek, Maine, for the purpose of providing improved, vehicular access to the landing. I hereby make that motion.
(Carl Brooks): I will second that. We have a long, pleasant relationship with Northeast Harbor. And the problem in Northeast Harbor is our problem, and we will come to support you. I second that motion.
(Eric Stiles, Friends of Acadia): I do not dispute the facts of the presentation and that backing up from the boat ramp is not a pleasant experience, but we have strong concerns recognizing the precedence we set to other entities. Friends of Acadia stands ready to support the park however we can. That is, in my opinion, a dangerous precedent to pursue. But does not take away from the excellent presentation that you made. It does not take away from the worthy goals that you pursue. I would just suggest that an exchange of land would be more appropriate and pursuant and Friends of Acadia stands ready to support that. I thank you for your time and your very thoughtful presentation.
(Kevin Schneider): I expect that geography is the primary driver. To excavate for this turnaround is going to be a significant excavation. Report stated that is a $400,000 endeavor about a year or so ago. I suspect it is an even greater cost and that is what it is. We would be happy to work with the town to look for an exchange parcel. We do not have the legal authority to gift this land but would be happy to look at a suitably valued parcel at Acadia National Park.
(Ben “Lee” Worcester): The commission has its own procedures they generally go through on topics such as this where we can send it to the Land’s Committee to give it more time and examination than what we have at this meeting. I would recommend that we go down that road and send it to them and they can review it between now and our June meeting. We will add this back on our June meeting and, hopefully, will be able to come up with a resolution.
(Kendall Davis): I am curious, has this ever been brought before the lands committee before?
(Ben ‘Lee’ Worcester): This specific proposal, no. I will be very honest. I am glad that this proposal is in front of the committee for a whole host of reasons. Otter Creek and Otter Cove has been on our agenda for the better part of since we began. I would like to see some of these come to a resolution, one way or another. I do think that decisions as important as this go through the proper procedures. There have been some acquisitions of parcels and they have all been reviewed by the lands committee. They report to us. I cannot think of one that we don't agree to move forward with their opinion.
(Jackie Johnston): First of all, the presentation was terrific. I agree that it absolutely should go to the Land’s Committee to be fully vetted and provide associated timelines.
(Kirk Emerson): As a new Commissioner, I also agree with these statements about procedurally assuring that these go correctly in accordance with the commissions. Maybe we revise or consider a new proposal to take this proposal to the lands committee and, also, ensure that staff is there to assist with consideration of various options. What might be feasible land swaps and opportunities to work with partners to affect the transaction and so forth so by June, in order not to lose time, there could be some proposals put on the table for the commission. Also being from Frenchboro and given my prior background in conservation work, I would be glad to serve on the Lands Committee.
(Darron Collins): I would be willing to serve on the Land’s Committee (representing Federal).
(Ben ‘Lee’ Worcester): I would make a motion that we appoint Darron Collins and Kirk Emerson to the lands committee. Seconded by Fred Ehrlenbach. All in favor. No oppose. Motion carries.
Darron and Kirk will be on the Lands Committee joining Howie Motenko, representing the State of Maine, Ken Smith, representing the Town of Bar Harbor, and Lee Worcester, representing the Town of Southwest Harbor.
(Kendall Davis): I, Kendall Davis, Commissioner, rescind my motion as set forth earlier.
(Fred Ehrlenbach): I move to this item (Otter Creek land expansion) be directed to The Lands Committee for review and research and bring back a recommendation.
Seconded by Kendall Davis and Ken Smith. All Approve – No Oppose – Motion Accepted.
Thank you to Durlin Lunt for speaking and sharing his presentation.
NEW BUSINESS
Update on Election of Officers (Howie Motenko)
- Announcement of election of 2024 Officers for June Meeting
- Per 2016 Bylaws, officers are limited to three consecutive terms.
- I will send out an email to the commission members.
- Nominations must be made by email, starting today and up to 30 days before the June 3rd meeting. Please submit your nominations to me (Howie Motenko) by May 3rd.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Science & Education Committee – No Report
Park Use Committee – No Report
Lands Committee – No Report
History Committee – No Report
FRIENDS OF ACADIA –Eric Stiles, President and CEO
With the strong support of Senators Collins and King and our Congressional Delegation, redesignation of 55 acres will be repurposed for workforce housing. 40 acres is to go to the town of Bar Harbor on behalf of all communities to provide workforce housing. 15 acres is to be retained for its own workforce housing. I want to thank and recognize the congressional delegation that created that opportunity.
We purchased the Dane Farm property to create workforce housing and, I am proud to say, they are working on the footings this week, and we hope to have the panels put up in place in the next two weeks. All money is staying within this region, which is amazing, from the architect, the engineers, the landscape architects and builders, and even the panels are being constructed in the County. We want to make sure that our money is being reinvested to benefit the talented men and women in business in the state.
In total, construction should take 10 to 12 months at which point in time, the 4.25 acres will be transferred to the National Park Service, in perpetuity, not to give away. Dane Farm and additional FOA support will leverage matching funds, thanks to congressional members for the strong support of the Centennial Challenge program. This grant program requires a minimum of a one-to-one private match. It is also important to note that the way we are approaching workforce housing for the park is contributing to the solutions on the island.
Right now, seasonal, and full-time staff are competing with everyone else in the private sector. In essence, by building on NPS lands we are contributing our portion to the solution without competing inadvertently with the other desperate needs occurring here.
It may be of interest to the commission that there is a formal working group comprised of municipal officials, nonprofit and private sector working on the workforce housing solutions in our region.
Island Housing Trust and the Musson Group are two of the leading organizations behind that. They did secure a $50,000 grant from the state of Maine to start developing a vision and action plan for the island.
Acadia National Park is the most interwoven with the communities of any national park in this country. When the storm damages national park, it damages communities. When it damages communities, it damages the park. We are looking for opportunities to bring funding to the National Park and its communities. It is clear that, while we do not have the price tag now, the damage the National Park is far in excess of what you might find in the cushions and pillows of the National Park itself. When organizations pursued this with hurricane Sandy, they were able to work with the federal delegation to get funds to private landowners, municipalities, state and federal agencies. We will be working to see if we can create the same opportunity here as we move forward.
Finally on the housing front, we will continue to lease the Kingsleigh Inn for the outrageous price of $1.00 per year. Friends of Acadia will continue to make property tax payments on that as we feel like it is important to support the services of the municipality in which our property resides. We are also going to be paying for private RV pads for Park staff and volunteers of parks, and we are helping fund the design. Permanent RV pads are being added to Blackwoods Campground to providing housing solutions.
Thank you Mr. Chairman for the opportunity to provide an update and again, if Friends of Acadia can provide any value in the conversations, in particular the land pursuant, we would be happy to set that undertaking.
(Ben Worcester): Does anybody have any questions? Thank you very much. On to Schoodic Institute.
SCHOODIC INSTITUTE UPDATE – Susi Acord, Development Coordinator, Schoodic Institute
Hello, I'm Susi Acord, the Development Coordinator with Schoodic Institute. Nick Fisichelli, our CEO could not be with us today because he is on a plane headed down to Washington D.C. for Hill Day. Hill Day is organized by the National Park Foundation as an opportunity for partners working on behalf of the National Park Service to go and meet with others and educate them about the work that is happening, progress on projects and parks, and also to advocate questions we have. So you get to hear from me today instead.
For anyone not familiar with us, Schoodic Institute is a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service. We cover a 100-acre campus on the Schoodic section of the park that serves as our base of operations. We also work in close partnership with Friends of Acadia. Schoodic Institute is the largest of 17 Research Learning Center (RLCS) across the National Park System that work in partnership with parks to conduct science, help facilitate research permits and share stories of science in Acadia. We also bring together researchers to learn from each other and share all of the great research that is happening in the park. Normally, there are 80 projects that occur each year. Additionally, we are one of 18 outdoor schools across the National Park system and we bring hundreds of students to our campus here to participate in the Schoodic Education Adventure, which is an immersive 3-day, 2-night program that connects kids with outdoor heritage, given them the opportunity to do hands-on science and build skills for social and emotional well-being. It is also an important opportunity for kids here in Maine to learn about careers in conservation and resource management in Maine's outer economy and serves as a training ground for career educators who serve as educators seasonally.
Just reflecting back on 2023, we had an incredibly strong year. There are a number of projects that are happening in the park, including several partnerships with Acadia and Friends of Acadia on restoration. We employed over 100 people over the course of the year as early career scientists, interns, educators, and we have more than 20 year-round staff. 2/3 of those that we employ are from Maine, so we are proud of that. Last year, we welcomed more than 24,000 people to our visitor center. Although the visitation to the Schoodic section may be what it has been for the past few years, more and more people are coming to our campus, visiting us and learning about our work. We also had the highest number of people come to our public events last year which are all free to the public.
I encourage you to check out our calendar for 2024 events coming up. This year is looking like it is going to be an even bigger year for our work. Our 2024 budget is just under $4 million, it is our largest budget ever and it really demonstrates the strong partnership that we have. With all the work that is happening, we are gearing up for a busy season. We have 30 temporary and seasonal positions posted on our website right now that include housekeeping staff, kitchen staff and early career science and education positions. Aside from the infrastructure concerns that we have for recovering from January storms that Kevin mentioned earlier, one of our biggest priorities is building out and building up the Maine-based partnership that we are a part of Maine Outdoor School For All. It's a network of nonprofits across the state to provide immersive overnight educational experiences for students. In January, the size of our network doubled from four organizations to eight organizations who operate around the state. Right now, even with eight organizations providing overnight education, less than 30% of Maine students are offered the opportunity to participate in programs. So, our goal to this network is to assure that every public school student in Maine has the opportunity to visit an outdoor school like Schoodic Institute. Additionally, Maine has a shortage of 100 qualified educators working on the state and the network also serves an opportunity to develop more professionals who can educate positions around the state. Towards that end, we have sought support from the state of Maine. So, we are working on securing hopefully a combination of state, federal and private funding to support this network. That is one thing I hope that everyone can support as we move forward. That's it for any big updates from Schoodic. Any questions?
PUBLIC COMMENT
(Mike Olson, Otter Creek): When I first moved in, I was surprised to learn there was a gun range). 23 years ago, I wrote a letter and the park got back to me. I was told you build this thing in 1960 and it will stay because it is good. A few years later, I wrote another letter to the editor and another person got a hold of me and said we are going to take care of it. It is in the amphitheater. It's not going to make a difference. With the housing crisis, it’s very frustrating. In the Lewiston shooting, they were there in 24 hours. In high school, they were at the shooting at 24 hours. In the Texas shooting, they were there within 24 hours. Teddy Roosevelt started the Park Service and Teddy Roosevelt understand post-traumatic stress disorder and the need for people to get away from that kind of noise. Here we are talking about the public bus making too much noise, there is nothing that compares to a gun range. As far as housing, there are a lot of opportunities there. As far as hiking that land, I love nature and I love geography. I found the most beautiful Beech tree out there, it is phenomenal. But we need parking and we obviously need housing. It can even be an inner-city horse camp. The fact that we are using it as a gun range. There are 105 law enforcement agencies in Hancock County. The other 97 practice at another range. They are welcome here but don’t because they like their bullets they have; the park ranger is more than welcome to go use that range. I am sure I can go into many other details about that. It is a very poor use of public lands and would be great for someone to bite the bullet, no pun intended, and fix this. It's a problem, especially with the housing crisis and everything going on here. Thank you.
(Ben Worcester): Does anybody have any questions?
(Bruce Weirsma): Who is this range used by? Military forces?
(Darren Belskis, Chief Ranger): No, military forces don't like the frangible/non-lead bullets. The Federal Rangers, as well as the local law enforcement, Bar Harbor and Mount Desert use it.
(Ben Worcester): Any other questions?
(Kendall Davis): It is use of not just semiautomatic but also automatic weapons. The type of shooting is hard to judge. It is gaining proficiency, like a high-powered rifle.
(Darren Belskis, Chief Ranger): I want to make sure of this clarification, it's not just the federal law enforcement rangers that use that particular range. We do regularly let others use that range frequently within the course of the year. They always call us so everyone is aware that the range is in use.
(Kendall Davis): Is there any type of recovery of the projectiles, lead or not lead?
(Darren Belskis, Chief Ranger): There is a berm that collects the projectiles behind the targets. It’s a Frangible/non-lead ammunition so it does not affect the environment. Obviously, the effect of the environment is the noise it creates but as far as toxicity goes, we require them to use non-leaded ammunition.
(Kendall Davis): Living in that area, I have heard the use. I would not say they are semi-automatic weapons. I am no stranger to firearms. I would say automatic weapons. We are not dealing with the semi-automatic hand pistol. We are dealing with a heavy range weapon that can fire that many rounds. It concerns me because you're not talking about the noise. We learn more as we live. PTSD, we learn more about children, animals, pets they greatly fear the loud noise from these firearms. This topic is something that is concerning. It has been mentioned throughout my community. One older fellow said to me how much practice is a person need to become proficient with the firearm? That is a deep subject. Some people require more and some people require less. The type of shooting I am hearing over the type of target practice I am hearing over there; it is hard to judge that it is beneficial to gaining proficiency. And that is knowing weapons. Somebody can open fire with an automatic weapon. That can take down an individual very fast or whatever they are aiming at. That is what I'm hearing from that range over there and it is concerning. Your berm is concerning also. I have been to the rifle range.
(Kevin Schneider): At firing ranges, there is more than just the berm, especially in instances where it is a high-powered rifle. I just wanted to interject that into this part of the meeting.
(Kirk Emerson): I have three questions.
- How far is the other range that was mentioned? North Ellsworth
- Is this the first time that this issue has been raised before the commission? Yes
- Would it be appropriate to refer this to the park use committee? Yes, it could go to the Park Use Committee
(Kevin Schneider): Just to be clear, our law enforcement rangers are required to train and demonstrate their qualifications. They are required to train with various weapons, required to train at night. We have a small law enforcement department at Acadia.
(Darren Belskis, Chief Ranger): We have minimum policy requirements and we are required to qualify all our weapons and firearms. None of which are fully automatic. Handguns, shotguns, and rifles. A minimum of twice a year, we need to maintain the qualifications and part of that is at reduced light times such as sunset, that is our ability to satisfy what is required so we can carry those. We also hire seasonal employees who, as in years past, double our ranger force in spring and summer months through October. Those rangers arrive mid-April and they cannot be commissioned until they get those qualifications. That is one of the first things that we do. We go into our 40-hour minimum and their annual law enforcement refresher training. If those folks don't have the required training, they don't qualify. That is why those times of the year are such where the range is in use. At other times, to make that qualification they have to remediate and train a certain number of hours and requalify.
(Kendall Davis): Winter Harbor used to be a naval air station. When I was in the Navy, we had to go through similar qualifications. That meant whatever weapon we were trained in, we had to recertify in it. It was annual, so we all used to load into the van and go over to a private range and get qualified. All we had to go through a revamp and it took time to learn the weapon over again and go back in and see if you're any good at it. I understand all of that, but did the Navy have anything in Winter Harbor in place for a proper rifle range?
No.. They went to North Ellsworth
(Kendall Davis): Has the safety of that range been looked at? Has the park ever looked at the range in North Ellsworth?
(Kevin Schneider): No, this is impractical, especially in the summer where traffic is what it is and commute times are what they are. Obviously it is creating a concern about the volume of use there, but there is a recognition here of I want to make sure Darren and our law enforcement rangers are well trained. These guys are out there every day, and I want to make sure that they are not only using their weapons a couple of times a year when they need to get qualified. They are ready to go, if and when, they need to. That is where, as I said, we want to be good neighbors. There are obviously concerns about it but again, it's impractical for us to send our folks to the north side of Ellsworth to get the kind of training they would need.
(Darren Belskis, Chief Ranger): We are conscious of the noise impact and trying to improve on that. In the effect of trying to add an up-to-date device so sounds don’t carry. It would be an improvement but it costs a lot of money. To put in the commercially designed bullet trap device is approximately half a million dollars. We have tried to take mitigation. We closed out the administrative area to the public so there are signs in place. That will hopefully mitigate someone walking in. We will take a strong look at it. Could the range be improved? It could be, but it is safe in what we are doing now, I would say.
(Kevin Schneider): To answer your third question, yes, it could be sent on to the park use committee if the commission chose to do so.
(Ben Worcester): Does anybody else have any questions?
(Ben Worcester): We can forward it on to the park use committee and have them get a more detailed explanation.
Kendall Davis made the motion to forward it to the park use committee and the commission get their opinion on this. Jackie Johnston seconded it.
(Ben Worcester): We have a motion and a second to forward this issue onto the park use committee. Any more discussion?
All those in favor, say aye. Opposed? None. Abstained? None. We have a vote.
(Ben Worcester): Any other public comments?
(Izaak Giberson of Mount Desert): I think we need to address the traffic issue from the perspective of a local person who likes to ride the bicycle and can't ride a bicycle from town to town without being impeded by roads. The park seems to be in the way of bicycle roads for the community.
(Ben Worcester): you're talking about pathways dedicated strictly to the bikes? You're talking separate from vehicles?
(Izaak Giberson of Mount Desert): I believe the park borders many spots where we are not allowed to push our bicycle paths. This will probably apply to most of the parks across the country and that we need to address. Pollution is coming from the tailpipes and there is a lot of danger involved. We need to allow a little more expansion into the foothills of adjacent roads for safety of bicyclists to alleviate the parking issues and it's much more organic that we are getting from villages to the trails.
(Ben Worcester): From an historical point of view, all the parties that you mentioned, the park, local and state have all been very sensitive to the needs and wants, and frankly, there's been a lot of investigation in that regard. Sometimes there are issues with rights-of-way. The other is the sheer cost of it. It is well within all of the government entities if they can find the money. This is usually where it stops, finding the money of where we can have bicycle lanes going from downtown Southwest Harbor all the way to the Seawall Campground and so on and so forth. I want you to know that it has been looked at considerably, and it comes with an enormous price tag.
(Izaak Giberson of Mount Desert): That might be a restriction that is possibly impeding the process. If you can maybe make a streamlined provision for allowing bicycle lanes to be within certain parts of the park, that would be really pertinent going forward from now, if there was a way to address that issue. That is the first step, being allowed to do it. If we improve that with the park giving us a little bit.
(Ben Worcester): From Somesville to Southwest Harbor, those bicycle lanes are close to 50% and I would dare say that well more than that if you follow the money of where it came from, a large percentage of that is federal money. It all comes from someplace.
The cost is significant. We are happy to work with the Maine Department of Transportation. Most of these are state highways.
Access costs over the last 20 years have been improved. All it takes is one gap and that's hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. This is a topic of concern. I know we wanted it 20 years ago from Southwest Harbor until we heard what it would cost to do it. We were looking at widening, so we had safer roads. It became an overwhelming issue. Now, if something were to happen on the Seawall Road as far as reconstruction, we would encourage the bike lanes.
As long as there is a legal way of doing this trail building, we can do this, right?
(Inaudible): Thank you for your time. There may be some provision for this in the future.
(Inaudible): It seems to me there's a more fundamental problem than having a trail system for bicycles when the existing conditions are not conducive along the shoulders. The park forces parking onto the public roads. A particular bad example is Parkman where, on any busy day, they are parked on both sides of the road. It's not safe for bicycles, not safe walking. It's not safe for people in and out of the park. Thank you so much.
No further public comments.
CLOSING COMMENTS
The Commission Chair made closing comments.
ADJOURNMENT
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 3rd, 2024, 1:00 p.m. at Park Headquarters, Acadia National Park, and will continue to be an in-person and virtual meeting as published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.
I move we make a motion to adjourn. Fred Ehrlenbach made a motion to adjourn. Ken Smith seconded. All agreed – no opposed.
FEDERAL REGISTER.
Meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm
Minutes Submitted by Kathy Flanders
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