Parks and People: Managing Outdoor Recreation at Acadia National Park

Introduction: Outdoor Recreation Research and Management at Acadia National Park

Introduction Outdoor Recreation Research and Management at Acadia National Park Managing national parks and related areas presents both opportunities and challenges. Opportunities include protecting the substantial natural, cultural , and recreational values of these areas, and providing for public enjoyment and appreciation of these special places. Challenges include optimizing both of these opportunities simultaneously and balancing the inherent tension between them. When people visit national parks and related areas, they can impact park resources and the quality of the visitor experience. How much and what types of visitor use can be accommodated in parks without unacceptable impacts? Acadia National Park is a quintessential example of these issues. Acadia is one of the “crown jewels” of the national park system. Moreover, its location in New England and the broader Northeast makes it easily accessible to the nation’s largest concentration of population. Consequently, Acadia has moved ahead deliberately in its attempt to balance park use and protection. This process has been guided by the National Park Service’s recently developed Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (verp) framework, and has been supported by a program of natural and social science research designed to inform its application. This chapter provides an introduction to the program of outdoor recreation research and management at Acadia. First, we describe the park briefly, including its natural and cultural history and its contemporary visitor use patterns. Second, we outline the verp planning and management framework , along with its application at Acadia. Third, the chapter briefly describes the program of natural and social science designed to support and “inform” park planning and management. Finally, the organization of this book is outlined briefly.  I N T R O D U C T I O N  ACADIA NATIONAL PARK More than three thousand islands comprise the vast Maine archipelago, but only one stands out as the largest, the highest, and surely the prettiest of the fleet. The virtues of Mount Desert Island (mdi) attracted visitors as early as the 1840s, when Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole rambled about, recording its scenic wonders on canvas. As word of these wonders spread, well-to-do families began their summer migrations from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia to mdi to escape the cities and enjoy the beautiful land and seascapes. By the late 1890s, threats of development and logging turned these summer residents into conservationists to protect their tranquil retreat, and thanks to them, today we know mdi as the principal home of Acadia National Park, established in 1916 for all to enjoy as the first national park east of the Mississippi River. Acadia now protects in perpetuity over 35,000 acres of land. Most of this land is located on mdi, where half of the island is in park ownership. An additional 2,700 acres are found on Isle au Haut, 15 miles to the southwest of mdi, and 2,300 are found on the mainland at Schoodic Peninsula, 5 miles to the east of mdi. Also included in the park are all or part of fourteen other islands, and 208 conservation easements totaling nearly 12,800 additional acres. Most of these lands were donated by those early conservationists, and while park founders and superintendents pieced together lands as best they could, by 1980 the geography of the park on mdi consisted of a few large areas with convoluted boundaries and many isolated parcels scattered about the island. In 1986, legislation finally established a permanent boundary for the park on mdi and at Schoodic, easing relationships with local towns regarding property taxes. The federal government then began consolidating lands within that authorized boundary through purchases and divesting itself of the separate parcels with low park value; this lands program continues today. Separate legislation passed in 1982 established an authorized park boundary on Isle au Haut. Park Mission The mission of Acadia, articulated most recently in the park’s 1992 General Management Plan, is derived from the 1916 National Park Service Organic Act and the park’s own enabling legislation and associated documents: R E C R E A T I O N R E S E A R C H A N D M A N A G E M E N T  The National Park Service at Acadia National Park protects and preserves outstanding scenic, natural, scientific, and cultural values for present and future generations through programs, facilities, and services. It also provides programs and opportunities for nonconsumptive, resource-based...