Last updated: May 28, 2023
Article
Changing Acadia: Summits
Interpreting Change Right Where It's Happening
Large cedar-frame tripod waysides are telling visitors a story about innovative management strategies underway at two prominent destinations in Acadia – the summit of Cadillac Mountain and Great Meadow wetland. This web-based product is intended to make those displays more accessible for people who have mobility, visual, and cognitive impairments. It also documents the project for virtual visitors who may never have opportunity visit Acadia in person.
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A second web product is available for the displays at Great Meadow wetland.
NPS Photo by Jay Elhard
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The background color for this panel was sampled from a deep blue in a photograph of the pre-dawn sky above Frenchman Bay and Cadillac Mountain. This photograph, placed across the bottom third of the panel, depicts about two dozen visitors waiting and watching the horizon while seated on open expanses of exposed granite. A caption reads, "Photo by Ashley L. Conti, Friends of Acadia."
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THIS IS SPECIAL GROUND
Wabanaki people have long held this mountain, Wapuwoc, White Mountain of the First Light, as a significant place.
Today, visitors from everywhere find meaning on the mountain. Over the last few centuries, generations of people have made the journey, and many more will follow.
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A delicate pink rose color for the background of this panel was sampled from flowers in a photograph featured across the top. Blossoms of pink petals appear in low shrubbery on the left, and small white flowers appear on leaves to the right. A caption reads, "(Rhodora) Rhodora canadensis and Amelenchier nantucketensis. NPS Photo."
About midway down the panel on the right are two small photographs of visitors looking down while standing on exposed granite on the summit. One image depicts a small girl with blonde hair, wearing a hoodie branded ACADIA. She is gazing intently at her powder blue shoes situated precisely within the edges of a tiny puddle. A caption reads, "Photo courtesy Bryan Meyer. Used with permission." The second photo shows a woman standing in her own shadow with the sun rising directly behind her. She wears a scarf around her head. In the distance, dense layers of clouds gather below a ridge line with clear skies above. A caption reads, "Photo courtesy of Dana Rozier. Used with permission."
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The low-growing plants and shrubs on Acadia’s mountains are adapted to tough conditions of wind, fog, ice, snow, and direct sunlight. They are also fragile, and just a few footsteps can damage roots and expose soil to erosion.
More frequent storms, intense rain, and hotter temperatures make it harder for plants to grow back.
When visiting the summit, please stay on durable surfaces and marked trails.
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SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE
Help us monitor change, and our responses to it, by sharing your observations of plants and wildlife to iNaturalist and eBird. go.nps.gov/AcadiaData
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The background of this panel is a bright pastel yellow appropriate to sunny weather depicted in two photographs. The first, a vertical image filling the upper right corner, shows a vegetation crew member wearing a green wide brim hat and an orange safety vest. She uses a green plastic watering can to hydrate small plants in exposed soil contained within boundaries of black sandbags around the rocky summit. A caption reads, "Photo by Ashley L. Conti, Friends of Acadia." A second image shows two workers wearing ball caps and florescent yellow safety vests. One kneels over a small square frame laid on a low patch of vegetation. The other stands holding a clipboard writing notes. A caption reads, "Photo by Catherine Schmitt, Schoodic Institute."
At the bottom right corner of this panel are four logos representing Friends of Acadia, the National Park Service, Schoodic Institute. and Native Plant Trust.
At the bottom left corner there is a small map of the immediate area with topographic lines representing the terrain, hiking trails, a road and parking areas. There are four red dots indicating locations for cedar tripods along hiking trails and a large green label "You Are Here."
A caption reads, "This story continues here and online." There is a QR code and link go.nps.gov/future.
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ACADIA IS CHANGING, SO ARE WE
The rapidly changing climate requires new approaches to restoration. Acadia National Park and partners Friends of Acadia, Schoodic Institute, and Native Plant Trust are experimenting with different ways to restore soil and plants in degraded areas here on the summit of Cadillac. Learning more about which methods are likely to succeed will benefit restoration of mountain ecosystems in Acadia and beyond.
What plant restoration efforts are happening where you live?
NPS Photo by Jay Elhard
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The background for his panel is a close-up photograph featuring small hardy plants. The lower left corner at a diagonal about midway across the panel is granite covered with delicate light-green lichen. The upper right corner is filled with larger vascular plants with a few light blossoms between larger, broader leaf species. A caption reads, "Photo by Catherine Schmitt, Schoodic Institute."
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UNIQUE PLANTS GROW IN EXTREME CONDITIONS
At 1,530 feet, the mountain now called Cadillac is the highest point along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. Here on the summit, winds are strong and soils are thin, creating a "krummholtz" landscape of twisted shrubs, stunted trees, and low-growing plants. The views are amazing, and so is the vegetation.
The cooling effect of the surrounding ocean has allowed communities more typical of taller mountains or more northern climates to flourish here. Botanists have documented some 145 species, including the rare alpine blueberry, Nantucket shadbush, mountain firmoss, and mountain sandwort.
Please admire – but don’t pick – these tough-but-sensitive plants.
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The background color for this panel was sampled from a light blue overcast sky in a photograph of Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands from the summit of Cadillac Mountain. In the middle distance, there are several clusters of conifer trees. In the foreground are two vegetation crew members. A man wears a broad brim green hat, a long sleeve gray work shirt, and an orange safety vest. A pair of bright green work gloves are tucked into his belt. To his right and closer to the viewer is a young woman wearing a park volunteer ball cap, an orange long sleeve shirt with a collar, and an orange safety vest. A blue spray bottle appears to hang from her right hip. In the top right corner of the panel is a small inset photograph of a shrub branch displaying the underside of leaves with very pronounced veins and several dark berries. A caption reads, "Glossy buckthorn, invasive species. Photos by Ashley L. Conti, Friends of Acadia."
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PROTECTING ACADIA'S UNIQUE PLANT LIFE
Successful restoration starts with keeping out plants that displace native vegetation and don’t support local insects and birds. Park staff remove glossy buckthorn, a shrub that quickly crowds out other plants, along the North Ridge Trail. They cut back non-native grasses and wildflowers that have become established near the trail and parking area.
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SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE
Help us monitor change, and our responses to it, by sharing your observations of plants and wildlife to iNaturalist and eBird. go.nps.gov/AcadiaData
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The background color of this panel was sampled from the leaves of small plants in the foreground of a photograph across the top of the panel. The photo is shot from the ground-level perspective of the plants upward toward a vegetation crew member holding a blue plastic watering can and pouring water onto a patch of low shrubbery to the left of the frame. The worker, wearing a broad brim green hat, a long sleeve gray work shirt, orange vest, brown work pants and boots, is framed by billowing clouds high in the sky above him.
At the bottom right corner of this panel are four logos representing Friends of Acadia, the National Park Service, Schoodic Institute. and Native Plant Trust.
At the bottom left corner there is a small map of the immediate area with topographic lines representing the terrain, hiking trails, a road and parking areas. There are four red dots indicating locations for cedar tripods along hiking trails and a large green label "You Are Here."
A caption reads, "This story continues here and online." There is a QR code and link go.nps.gov/future.
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ACADIA IS CHANGING, SO ARE WE
Protecting plants and soil is not enough to restore the unique communities on Cadillac’s summit. Acadia and partners Friends of Acadia, Schoodic Institute, and Native Plant Trust are testing different ways to help vegetation re-establish, including different combinations of soil, seeds, and plants. The experiment includes plants adapted to the warmer temperatures expected to occur on the summit in the near future.
You can help by planting native plants and supporting climate-smart restoration at home for a long-lasting landscape that supports biodiversity.
NPS Photo by Jay Elhard
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The background for this panel is a photograph of very early morning light casting a yellow band behind a high contrast silhouette of a group of people walking along a ridge line. The sky above is a rich blue. The earth below the walkers all the way to the bottom of the panel is solid black. A caption reads, "Photo by Will Newton, Friends of Acadia."
About midway down the panel along the right edge is a horizontal photograph of two vegetation crew members seated and kneeling over a square white frame laid in patch of small plants. Each worker wears a ball cap and an florescent yellow safety vest. They appear to be counting and concentrating intently on tiny plants within the white square.
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IS THERE REFUGE FROM A CHANGING CLIMATE?
Though Acadia’s mountain summits are experiencing climate change, some parts of them are cooler than the rest of the landscape. These spots can provide habitat for sensitive plant and animal species as temperatures warm.
Park staff and partners want to protect such “refugia” for rare plants and subalpine species, while also managing an inevitable transition to new plant communities that thrive in warmer settings.
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SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE
Help us monitor change, and our responses to it, by sharing your observations of plants and wildlife to iNaturalist and eBird. go.nps.gov/AcadiaData
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The background color for this panel was sampled from a photograph of sunrise from Cadillac summit and a pale orange band across the sky. This photograph at the top of the panel features granite boulders and deep green trees and shrubs in the foreground, a distant ridge line draped in a misty layer of low clouds, and clear sky above filling with morning light. A caption reads, "Photo copyright Alan Nyiri. Used with permission."
About midway down the panel along the right edge is a small vertical photograph of a ledge of exposed granite with a random collection of small rock fragments and gravel accumulating around a crack from which a number of small green plants and two small white flowers now blossom. A caption reads, "Photo by Catherine Schmitt, Schoodic Institute."
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ACADIA'S FUTURE WILL BE WARMER AND WETTER
In the last century, average annual precipitation has increased by six inches, with more rain and less snow. More frequent and intense storms and more extended dry periods between storms have accelerated erosion. About 16 percent of summit vegetation has disappeared in recent decades. It will take centuries for soil and plants to regenerate on their own Park staff are taking action to protect and restore the Cadillac summit with climate change in mind.
We can prevent the worst damage from climate change by reducing emissions now. You can help while visiting Acadia by reducing automobile use, car-pooling, riding the Island Explorer, biking, or walking.
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The background color of this panel is sampled from the sky in a photograph across the top of the panel. A vegetation crew member is walking across exposed granite boulders holding the handles of two white plastic five-gallon work buckets that each appear to be about half full with soil material. He is wearing a green NPS ball cap, long gray sleeves and a green vest under an orange safety vest. He is approaching the edge of a row a black sand bags that appear to enclose an expanse of freshly-dumped brown soil.
At the bottom right corner of this panel are four logos representing Friends of Acadia, the National Park Service, Schoodic Institute. and Native Plant Trust.
At the bottom left corner there is a small map of the immediate area with topographic lines representing the terrain, hiking trails, a road and parking areas. There are four red dots indicating locations for cedar tripods along hiking trails and a large green label "You Are Here."
A caption reads, "This story continues here and online." There is a QR code and link go.nps.gov/future.
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ACADIA IS CHANGING, SO ARE WE
We are shifting how we manage the park in response to rapidly changing conditions. Here, we are experimenting with different native plants and soils that are more resilient to the expected future climate. Our goal is to restore this landscape and create a place where rare plants can thrive in the future. Park staff and partners Friends of Acadia, Schoodic Institute, and Native Plant Trust are working together to expand the methods that work on Cadillac Mountain to other summits.
You, too, can adapt to climate change. Learn about the changes expected for your neighborhood, and how you can prepare.
About This Project
In early 2022, a group of researchers and communicators at Acadia National Park, Schoodic Institute, and Friends of Acadia began collaborating on temporary displays to highlight innovative management strategies underway at two prominent park locations – the summit of Cadillac Mountain and the Great Meadow wetland. This web-based product is intended to make those displays more accessible for people who have mobility, visual, and cognitive impairments. It also documents the project for virtual visitors who may never have opportunity to visit Acadia in person.
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A second web product is available for the displays at the Great Meadow wetland.
All told, nine cedar tripods were created to display content at strategic locations across the two project sites. A total of 18 different panels with original content, each 19 x 32-inches, were designed for six cedar tripods, three each for the two destinations. Later, three additional tripods were deployed with nine duplicate panels to broaden the reach of the project.
The cedar post building material was donated as scrap from a local log yard. The tripod framework is based on smaller traditional structures built by the park trail crew for signs at locations above the treeline known for high winds and extreme conditions.
Project authors included Catherine Schmitt, Jesse Wheeler, Emma Lanning, Stephanie Ley, Brian Henkel, Abe Miller-Rushing, and Tim Watkins. Jay Elhard was the project manager, designer, and carpenter.