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L.L. Bean Commitment to Friends of Acadia Surpasses $2.25 million
Governor John E. Baldacci announced
on September 14 that outdoor retailer
L.L. Bean has pledged another
$1.25 million to Friends of Acadia for the
Island Explorer bus service and two other
programs in Acadia National Park. The
announcement was made at the opening
reception for the first U.S. Ecotourism
Conference being held in Bar Harbor. The
grant brings Bean's total contributions to
Friends of Acadia to more than $2.25 million
since 2002.
The Island Explorer is a network of 17
propane-powered buses serving Acadia
National Park and the surrounding communities.
Over the past seven years, the bus system
has carried over 1.79 million passengers,
reduced private vehicle trips by more than
662,000, eliminated approximately 9.8 tons
of smog causing pollutants, and reduced
greater than 6,200 tons of greenhouse gases.
"L.L. Bean has a long, rich history in Maine,
and with that has always come the desire to
help steward the state's natural resources," said
Shawn Gorman, L.L. Bean Senior Manager of
Partnership Marketing. "We are excited to continue
to help protect this fabulous national park
through our partnership with Friends of Acadia
and the Island Explorer."
Bean has sponsored the Island Explorer since
2002, when the company's historic $1 million
donation to Friends of Acadia enabled the
Explorer to extend operations through
Columbus Day and this year enabled the
Explorer to purchase and operate two vans and
bicycle trailers that carry bicyclists directly
between the Bar Harbor Village Green and
Jordan Pond. This season, the first summer of
operations for the bicycle trailers, 5,408 bicyclists
were transported. The nonprofit
Downeast Transportation, Inc. operates the
buses and vans.
"L.L. Bean is a significant conservation steward
of Maine," said Ken Olson, President of
Friends of Acadia. "We are proud to count
Bean as a major partner in the Island Explorer
bus service and now other programs in the
park." The donation to Friends of Acadia will
be spread over five years.
The grant also establishes the L.L. Bean Kids
in Acadia Program, supplying student scholarships for the Schoodic Education Adventure,
and it creates L.L. Bean Research Fellowships
for scientific study in Acadia National Park.
The two programs will be administered by
the Acadia Partners for Science and Learning,
a non-profit organization founded to assist the
National Park Service with managing the
Schoodic Education and Research Center, the
former Navy base on the Schoodic Peninsula
that reverted to the Park Service.
The L.L. Bean Kids in Acadia Program will
fund scholarships annually for up to 100
Maine middle school children to attend the
Schoodic Education Adventure, a residential
field education program run by the National
Park Service at the Schoodic Education and
Research Center. Participating schools will also
be able to apply for limited transportation
funding to the program, and teachers involved
will be able to attend a one week teacher institute
associated with the program. L.L. Bean's
gift will also enable the Park Service to hire
additional college and graduate student interns
to assist with the education program, allowing
the park to expand the number of weeks
that the Schoodic Education Adventure runs.
The L.L. Bean Research Fellowship Program
will be open to undergraduate and graduate
students, agency scientists, college and university
faculty, and private sector research professionals
interested in performing field
research at Acadia in the physical, biological,
ecological, social, and cultural sciences. The
program will award a minimum of five
research fellowships each year ($5,000 maximum
grant size), beginning in 2006. The goal
of the L.L. Bean Research Fellowship Program
is to foster research at Acadia that will further
scientific knowledge, answer resource management
questions, and create long-term field
research partnerships at the Schoodic
Education and Research Center.
"L.L. Bean has been a tremendous partner
for Acadia National Park," said Sheridan
Steele, Superintendent of Acadia National
Park. "Not only did they enable the Island
Explorer bus system to expand operations, but
they have invested in programs at the
Schoodic Education and Research Center, a
facility that will help the Park foster long-term
relationships with scientists and educators."
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