Comments on Schoodic Draft General Management Plan Amendment

by Schoodic Futures and The Friends of Schoodic

Presented on October 20, 2004 by Bill Zoellick
Vice President, Schoodic Futures
Secretary, The Friends of Schoodic

Good evening.  My name is Bill Zoellick.  I represent the local organizations “Schoodic Futures” and “The Friends of Schoodic,” which is a committee of Schoodic Futures.  Both organizations are volunteer groups interested in and working on the Schoodic Peninsula.  We have an intense interest in the Schoodic District of Acadia National Park because of its economic, aesthetic, and cultural importance to the local communities and their citizens.  We appreciate this opportunity to make comments regarding the proposed General Management Plan Amendment..

I should say at the outset that both organizations are in support of alternative "C" – the “Collaborative Management” alternative.  However, we have two concerns about the implementation of this alternative.

 Our first concern is in regard to the entities that become users and tenants of the SERC campus.  We have become aware of situations within other National Park units wherein commercial, corporate entities have become, in our view, too intrusive and visible within the unit.  This corporate intrusion appears to have been permitted in order to secure corporate sponsorship and funding.  We are anxious to see SERC inhabited by educational and research groups focused on a mission compatible with that of the Park.  We believe that having corporate sponsors that bring corporate presence and an overly commercial focus to the operations – taking the focus away from research and education – would not be in keeping with the nature and the mission of the Schoodic District of Acadia National Park.

Our second concern revolves around increased traffic.  The numbers of staff and participants projected in the GMP plans appear to imply considerably increased traffic counts over time.  We encourage the National Park Service to focus on the concerns identified on page 72 of the plan: the “visitor experience, perceptions of crowding and quiet enjoyment, visual quality, night sky, and the natural soundscape."  We recommend that focusing on protection and even enhancement of these qualities should be a primary objective that guides and constrains other parts of the plan.

Thanks very much for hearing our concerns.  We extend an offer to assist in any way we can with realization of this plan.  We look forward to supporting the Park Service in implementing the plan in the best possible fashion for all who use and enjoy the Schoodic District of Acadia National Park.