angie-bouchard Archives - Acadia National Park on My Mind

Acadia National Park is overflowing with a near-record number visitors again this summer, but a hiring freeze and funding crisis at the NPS during the Trump administration left the Maine park short-staffed this summer and struggling to stop bad behaviors by visitors.

Hikers probably frown when they see this graffiti off the Great Meadow Loop in Acadia National Park. The vandalism was widespread at this location on Sept. 1 including graffiti on several boulders and a wooden bridge.

According to a little-noticed report by the National Park Service, Acadia has seen a nearly 30 percent decrease in seasonal staffing levels over the past decade, with a lack of affordable summer housing a key factor. People said they rarely see rangers on the trails or carriage roads, while some said the staff is overburdened with emergencies and other visitor services like fee collections and providing information at a new welcome center in Trenton.

The National Park Service in Washington did not respond to our detailed questions via email, but did issue a statement.

“The National Park Service continually evaluates staffing and budget needs at Acadia National Park to ensure we can meet our core mission of protecting resources and providing safe, high-quality experiences for visitors,” the statement said. “While we don’t have specifics to share, Acadia National Park remains committed to using resources responsibly and prioritizing essential services that support visitor safety and the long-term stewardship of the park.”

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Rash of Acadia National Park vandalism: Illegal blazes, painted rocks

Acadia National Park has been hit by a recent rash of vandalism by someone who has used spray paint to damage about five miles of trails on Bald Peak, Huguenot Head and Champlain Mountain with unsightly, off-color blazes.

Gary Stellpflug, foreman of the Acadia trails crew, said he is asking the public to provide possible information on the vandal, who has not been apprehended. “We’re reaching out to the public for information,” Stellpflug said.

Off-color turquoise spray-painted blaze, left, next to the park’s official sky-blue blaze, marred the scenery along Champlain North Ridge Trail in July. Volunteers spent hours cleaning up the approximately 50 illegal blazes on this trail by August.

The rogue blazes, mainly on boulders and rocks, were removed from Bald Peak last fall and from Huguenot Head and Champlain Mountain in August, Stellpflug said.

The illegal spray-painted blazes, including about 50 on the Champlain North Ridge Trail, come amid ongoing efforts by the park to prevent other types of Acadia National Park vandalism or rule breaking, including the knocking down of historic-style cairns , the leaving of painted rocks, which the park considers to be litter along with paper and other waste, and the stacking of rocks.

About five of the vandal’s illegal paint blazes, also turquoise and of various sizes, were spotted during a hike on Sept. 1 on trails near the Schoodic Head overlook in Acadia. Stellpflug said he is aware of the illegal blazes at Schoodic and plans to have them removed.

In early August, two volunteers spent about 10 hours using an organic solution to wash off about 50 of the spray-painted blazes on the Champlain North Ridge Trail.

During a hike in July, about a month before the Acadia National Park vandalism was cleaned, reporters found that the vandal left misshapen and greenish-blue marks on Champlain’s granite slabs and rocks. They often were sprayed, sometimes in long streaks, near the park’s rectangular, 4-inch-long official sky-blue blaze.

Stellpflug said he is hoping the Acadia National Park vandalism will stop. Stellpflug said he assumes it is the same person who is responsible for all the blazes spray painted on trails.

The painted rock with the words “You can do it!” (see close-up photo of rock below) was found on a large boulder on Beachcroft Path – the very same boulder that George B. Dorr, the father of Acadia, was standing by in a well-known historic photo, taken around 1940. Such painted rocks are considered vandalism by the park, and offenders could be subject to fines or prison terms.

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