Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release: July 29, 1999

Contact: John Wright 202/208-6416

Secretary Babbitt and Friends of Acadia Sign Landmark
Agreement to Restore Trails at Acadia National Park
Acadia to become first national park to have
privately endowed trail system

BAR HARBOR, Maine -- Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, National Park Service Director Robert Stanton, and Friends of Acadia President Ken Olson signed a landmark agreement today that has potential to double, or even triple every visitor fee dollar invested in a national park at the gate. The agreement launches a multimillion dollar effort to restore the 130-mile trail system at Acadia National Park. The restoration effort, called Acadia Trails Forever is considered the most comprehensive Acadia trails' project since the massive Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the early 1930's.

The agreement between Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia calls for the federal agency to match private fund-raising efforts with $4 million from park entrance fees. Acadia National Park is part of the nationwide Fee Demonstration Program, which allows federal recreational land management agencies, to keep money collected from entrances fees at the park where it is collected to help improve park infrastructures and enhance the visitors' experience. Prior to the congressionally authorized program, parks generally deposited collected fees in the U.S. Treasury. This is the first time since the Fee Demonstration Program authorized by the Omnibus Consolidated Recessions Act of 1996, will be used in combination with privately raised funds.

"This agreement sets America's compass to blaze new trails along the corridors of public-private partnerships," said Babbitt. "Partnerships like this are models for other units of the national park system. It shows how deeply and creatively all Americans love their public landscapes."

The Acadia Trails Forever restoration project is estimated to take about 10 years to complete and cost approximately $13 million. With the support of $4 million from park fees, Friends of Acadia must raise $9 million through private donations. To help kick off the project Friends of Acadia received a pledge of $5 million from Mr. and Mrs. Tristram C. Colket, Jr. The Colket's donation is one of the largest ever to a Maine conservation organization.

"Our national parks rely on organizations like Friends of Acadia to help meet the critical needs in preserving park resources," said Stanton. "By complementing our entrance fees with private donations, we are ensuring that the footpaths of this special place will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come."

"Olson said, "It will take about 10 years, beginning in 2000, to complete all the trail work. As the trails are restored and reopened, they will be continuously maintained through the Friends of Acadia Trails Endowment."

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