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LETTER TO MEMBERS & SUPPORTERS
Dear Friends:
First, thank you. You, our members, made 2003 resoundingly successful for Friends
of Acadia.
Funded by park entry fees and your donations to Acadia Trails Forever, Acadia
National Park's first-class trail crew completed reconstruction of the Jordan Pond Trail,
created a wheelchair loop to the pond, and reopened the spectacular Homans Path.
Friends’ volunteers and other sources lovingly contributed 35,877 hours to this and
other park improvements.
Th e Acadia Youth Conservation Corps and the Friends of Acadia Ridge Runners
and Recreational Intern again accomplished superior field work.
Friends published First Light, winner of the 2003 National Outdoor Book Award
for Design and Artistic Merit. The first print run sold out.
Our wonderful benefit gala committee put on another successful auction to further
Friends’ conservation mission.
Thanks to a grant of $1 million from L. L. Bean to Friends, the Island Explorer bus
system operated through Columbus Day. Since 1999, nearly 1.2 million riders have
used the propane buses, representing 442,000 cars and RVs removed from roads and
tons of pollution prevented.
Friends balanced its budget and met its grant obligations to Acadia National Park
and community donees. Our members gave heartily despite the economy, and our
investments rebounded from the three-year down market that affected millions of
investors.
We launched Project Tranquility to raise an additional $1.2 million by the end of
2005. Donors acted swiftly, and we have just $50,000 to go.
Project Tranquility underwrites Friends’ multiyear planning for a transportation
center where visitors and commuters can park off -island and board Island Explorer
buses to MDI. As promised, the funds also protected our endowments by paying for
grants that would have strained investments.
Friends of Acadia further safeguards your contributions by speaking plainly to
Congress, urging full funding for Acadia’s base budget, which is solely a government
responsibility. Friends’ cash grants to the park supplement, and do not replace, federal
funds. Our job is to add value - to provide a margin of excellence to Acadia, not a
margin of survival for government operations.
Sheridan S. Steele became Acadia’s new superintendent. We welcome him and
thank his predecessor, Paul Haertel, for an outstanding run. Len Bobinchock managed
Acadia during the transition and continues as one of the Park Service’s most respected
deputy superintendents.
A word for fellow board members and staff: You help make Friends of Acadia
one of the most successful, solvent, and results-oriented conservation organizations
working today.
Now back to where we started: You, our members, are the heart of everything we
do. Friends of Acadia will continue to protect this magnificent place for you and all
who love Acadia. Thank you again.
Dianna R. Emory, Chairman
W. Kent Olson, President
H. Lee Judd, Treasurer
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