FRIENDS OF ACADIA PROJECTS

Friends of Acadia members make possible many important projects in Acadia and the surrounding communities. If you would like more information about our projects or would like to support our work, please contact Terry Begleyat 207-288-3340 or terry@friendsofacadia.org.

Acadia Youth Conservation Corps using a highline to move rocks on the Pond Trail

Through the Acadia Trails Forever program, Friends of Acadia supports maintenance of Acadia's 130-mile footpath system, used by hundreds of thousands of people each year. Some trails have been made wheelchair accessible. Some abandoned trails are being restored, and new village connector trails are being established to encourage people to walk (rather than drive) from island towns into the park.

The Acadia Youth Conservation Corps (AYCC) is comprised of 16 high school students (many from Mount Desert Island) and four leaders who join the staff of Acadia National Park for the summer. They make visible improvements to Acadia's trails and carriage roads, reconstruct stone drainages and retaining walls, clear vistas, cut wood at campgrounds, and assist wherever else needed. Friends provides the salaries, work boots, AYCC T-shirts, and scholarships. The park provides program leadership and training.

The Island Explorer is a fare-free, seasonal, propane-powered bus system that runs through Acadia National Park and its surrounding gateway communities. Since its first day of operation in 1999, 2,929,941 passengers have ridden the buses, 1,083,382 private vehicle trips have been eliminated, and 16 tons of smog causing pollutants and 10,258 tons of greenhouse gases have been reduced. Friends of Acadia has been involved with the bus system since its inception. Friends has granted nearly $1.6 million in funding, and secured more than $2.25 million in grants from L.L.Bean to enable the system’s continued growth.

Ridge runner Katie builds a cairn with volunteers.

Each year Friends of Acadia grants funds from its Carriage Road Endowment to Acadia National Park for the ongoing maintenance of 44 miles of historic carriage roads. Off-limits to motorized vehicles, the scenic gravel roads and stone bridges are used by hikers, runners, bicyclists, and equestrians.

Ridge Runners work with park staff to monitor visitor use on mountain summits..

Each year Friends of Acadia funds several interns to work in Acadia, with park staff. Ridge Runners and the Recreation Technician are typically college-age students who serve as roving educators and researchers in the park. They are hired and trained by park rangers to spend the summer hiking Acadia's trails, educating hikers in "Leave No Trace" principles, performing light trail maintenance, and carrying out trail censuses and other park research.

Friends of Acadia also helps fund the Peregrine Falcon/Hawk Watch program. Each year, thousands of visitors to Acadia National Park attend a Peregrine Falcon/Hawk Watch program to learn more about the 13 species of raptors that migrate through this area. Spotting scopes are set up at the base of the Precipice so visitors can view nesting peregrine falcons. On Cadillac Mountain, binoculars are used to watch birds of prey circling overhead. An intern helps visitors identify the birds while discussing their biology and protection efforts.

Since 1996, Friends of Acadia has been putting Village Connector Trails on the map. These trails re-establish the tradition of walking and/or biking into Acadia National Park, into town, and in neighborhoods. Village connector trails enhance the character of Mount Desert Island's villages, and improve the quality of the island's air by reducing the number of cars on island and park roads and at trailheads. Connector trails complement the Island Explorer buses, providing another option to get into the park, out into quiet landscapes, or to in-town destinations. The trails provide an opportunity for a long, one-way hike or bike ride with a return by bus.

Annually, approximately 2,000 Friends of Acadia Volunteers contribute over 9,000 hours in Acadia National Park, clearing drainage along carriage roads to reduce erosion, re-opening and maintaining vistas, cutting along park boundaries for fire protection, maintaining village connector trails, and reconstructing existing and abandoned trails. Friends of Acadia provides transportation, tools, training, and the salaries of two field crew leaders to organize volunteer activities through the summer.

In 1997, with help from the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation, Friends of Acadia purchased two
Wheelchair Accessible Carriages for Acadia. These horse-drawn carriages provide an opportunity for visitors with physical disabilities to see areas of Acadia they may never have been able to reach before. For more information on Wildwood Stables, visit www.acadiamagic.com/wildwood-stables. To make a reservation for a carriage road tour on the wheelchair accessible carriages, contact Wildwood Stables at (207) 276-3622, carriages@wildwood.acadia.net, or go to their website at www.acadia.net/wildwood. To learn more about accessibility at Acadia National Park, go to www.nps.gov/acad/.