bubbles-divide-trail Archives - Acadia National Park on My Mind

Update 2/28/2025: Statement from National Park Service was added to this story.

Eight full-time employees at Acadia National Park have been suddenly fired, sparking a local backlash and raising concerns about further cuts to services for the public because of staff shortages at Acadia.

Ironically, Acadia and partners recently hosted in-person and virtual resume workshops to boost hiring for the upcoming busy season. (NPS image)

The terminations at Acadia are among 1,000 probationary employees who were terminated at the National Park Service across the country as part of President Donald J. Trump’s widespread cuts in the federal government. The 1,000 employees had worked for the NPS for less than a year.

Many people are upset about the staff shortages at Acadia in the wake of the terminations. The terminations constitute almost 10 percent of the approximately 90 permanent employees at the park.

“The whole thing is a complete tragedy…not just for the national parks but for the individuals who staff the parks,” said Maureen Robbins Fournier, a former longtime seasonal ranger at Acadia National Park. “Real people, not numbers.”

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A major shortfall in seasonal employees the past two years has caused some serious difficulties in maintaining hiking paths in Acadia National Park and providing other services during the peak season.

In 2024, the park was only able to hire four seasonal staff on the Acadia Trail Crew, even though funding allowed for 22 people, according to Amanda Pollock, public affairs officer for the park. That meant the park could only accomplish two major trail projects – the Great Meadow Village Connector Trail and the Bubbles Divide Trail – and had to postpone building a boardwalk through a much-photographed birch grove on Hemlock Path to protect the environmentally sensitive area.

Overall, the park each year attempts to hire between 150 to 175 seasonal employees but has only hired 115 seasonal employees each of the last two years with a key reason being a lack of affordable housing near the park, according to Pollock.

Hobbled by a lack of seasonal workers in 2024, the Acadia Trail Crew canceled plans to temporarily close Hemlock Path and build a boardwalk through the birch grove on the path. It’s currently uncertain if the prominent project will be completed in 2025.

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