Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release: July 26, 1999

Interior: John Wright 202/208-6416
Friends: Jack Lynn 207/288-3340

Media Advisory

Secretary Babbitt to Join Friends of Acadia to Launch
Landmark Trails Restoration Initiative July 29

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and National Park Service Director Robert Stanton will travel to Acadia National Park Thursday, July 29, 1999, to join Friends of Acadia in launching a landmark trails restoration effort. The initiative, called Acadia Trails Forever, is a public-private partnership between Friends of Acadia, a nonprofit organization, and Acadia National Park.

"With this initiative, we are blazing a new trail along the corridors of public-private partnerships," said Babbitt. "This endowment will help pave the way toward achieving similar objectives in other units of the national park system. It shows how deeply all Americans love their public landscapes."

This initiative, the first of its kind, will use privately raised money to create an endowment that will be used to fund restoration of the park's 130 mile trail system and provide trail maintenance in perpetuity. A husband and wife donor, whose identities will be revealed at the July 29 event, are leading the way with the largest cash gift ever made to a Maine conservation organization. This landmark initiative will make Acadia the first national park in the nation to have a privately endowed trail system.

Who: Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt
National Park Service Director Robert Stanton
Friends of Acadia President Ken Olson
Commissioner, Maine Dept. of Conservation, Ronald Lovaglio
National Park Foundation President, Jim Maddy
Director of Millennium Trails Project, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Jeff Olson
Superintendent, Acadia National Park, Paul Haertel

What: Landmark Initiative, Acadia Trails Forever

When: Thursday, July 29, 1999, at 1:30 p.m.

Where: Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine

Location: The Tea Lawn at Jordan Pond House, between Bar Harbor and Seal Harbor,
along the park loop road

Note to Editors: Following the event, program participants will join Secretary Babbitt on a short hike that will take approximately 45 minutes and return to Jordan Pond House. Press not joining the hike may wish to remain at Jordan Pond House and take a viewing position that will provide an excellent scenic backdrop when the hiking party returns.

U.S. Department of the Interior