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Acadia National Park protects ecological integrity, cultural history, scenic beauty, and scientific
values, and offers visitors a broad range of transformative and inspiring experiences
among the parkâs diverse habitats, glacially sculpted mountains, and bold, rocky coastline.
The park has a rich history of conservationâa tradition that has continued to this day.
The parkâs rich legacy of community-initiated conservation and philanthropy helps the park
meet its mission of protecting and preserving cultural and natural resources for present
and future generations.
Acadiaâs great ecological diversity ranges from the intertidal zone along the oceanâs
edge, to the granite falls at the mountains summits.
So it has a great diversity of species.
Some northern and some southern.
The landscape supports more than 50 diverse ecological communities,
including summit blueberry balds, maritime spruce-fir forest, deep-water lakes,
freshwater bogs, estuaries, several dozen rare plants and the rocky intertidal zone.
Acadia National Parkâs diverse landscape supports more than 300 species of birds including
bald eagles, peregrine falcons and loons.
The clean air and clean water in and around the park support the ecological health
of the parkâs plants and animals.
In 1999, the National Park Service collaborated with Downeast Transportation Inc.,
Maine Department of Transportation, and surrounding communities to establish the Island Explorer bus system
as an alternative means of traveling throughout the park and neighboring towns.
A commitment to maintaining clean air in the park is why the Island Explorer runs on propane.
The Island Explorer has carried over 7 million riders since its inception in 1999 and that
will play an important part in the transportation plan in the future.
Visitors can experience Acadiaâs diverse landscape through a network of historic
carriage roads, motor roads, and hiking trails, that really define the landscape of the park.
In addition to its 45 miles of carriage roads and extensive trail networks, Acadiaâs historic
27-mile Park Loop Road and 6-mile Schoodic Loop Road offer outstanding views of the parkâs
seashore, forests, and mountains.
This comprehensive motor road system we enjoy today is primarily the vision of philanthropist
and conservationist, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
The Park Loop Road, the carriage roads and the hiking trails are all cultural resources
in Acadia National Park.
They were all built during the early history of the park and have really unique construction,
engineering, design, landscape features and a history that makes them nationally significant.
I still marvel at how beautiful some of the design elements are.
The entire Park Loop Road was carefully designed with the intent visitors would be able
to have a driving experience where they would be able to really enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Today, because of the congestion, theyâre in a line of traffic, thereâs a line of
parked cars on their right and that fundamental experience is often times missing for folks.
Bicyclists face similar issues by having to navigate the road along with the vehicles.
Some visitors may avoid the Park Loop Road altogether at certain times.
When parking lots fill to capacity, some visitors will park outside the designated areas,
including along road shoulders.
This adds to congestion, but impacts resources, as well.
Parking outside designated areas damages tree roots and kills smaller roadside plants.
This not only damages the roadside, creates erosion, but also creates a critical safety concern.
Some people may wonder why the park doesnât just continue to build more infrastructure
to support increased visitation.
In most cases, more parking means less park and the park is whatâs most important to
us here.
We donât want to be continually blasting ledge and tearing down the forest.
Instead, the National Park Service is looking for ways to reduce congestion while protecting
the resources that visitors come to enjoy.
These are just a few of the ways that roads, parking areas, and increasing use are affecting
the parkâs resources.
The Transportation Plan is intended to do many things, but one of the main goals always
needs to be to protect these incredible resources of Acadia.
To learn more and provide comments on Acadia's Transportation Plan
please visit the National Park Service website at http://go.nps.gov/AcadiaPlan