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Acadia National Park

 

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Acadia National Park



 
 
Acadia National Park preserves much of Mount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island

Mount Desert Island, in Hancock County, Maine, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of 108 square miles it is the List of islands of the United States by area.....
, and associated smaller islands, off the Atlantic coast
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 of Maine
Maine

The State of Maine is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast....
. Traditionally inhabited by Wabanaki
Wabanaki

Wabanaki, Wabenaki, Wobanaki, etc. may refer to:In geography* area referred as the "Dawn land" by many Algonquian language-speaking peoples to describe the oriental region of the North American continent, generally described as being New England in the United States, plus Quebec and the Maritimes in Canada...
 Native American hunters, fishers, and gatherers, the area includes mountain
Mountain

A mountain is a landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill....
s, an ocean shoreline, woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
s, and lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s.. In addition to Mount Desert Island, the park comprises much of the Isle au Haut
Isle au Haut, Maine

Isle au Haut is a New England town in Knox County, Maine, Maine, United States, on an island of the same name in Penobscot Bay. The population was 79 at the 2000 United States Census....
, a small island to the southwest of Mount Desert Island and parts of Baker Island, also nearby. A portion of Schoodic Peninsula
Schoodic Peninsula

The Schoodic Peninsula is a peninsula in Down East Maine. It is located four miles east of Bar Harbor, Maine, as the crow flies. The Schoodic Peninsula contains , or approximately 5%, of Acadia National Park....
 on the mainland
Mainland

Mainland is usually the continental part of a region, as opposed to the islands nearby. Sometimes the residents are called "the Mainlanders". As a result of the usually larger area of mainland, there are significantly more mainlanders than islanders, and mainlander culture and politics sometimes threaten to dominate those of the islands....
 is also part of the park.






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Acadia National Park preserves much of Mount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island

Mount Desert Island, in Hancock County, Maine, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of 108 square miles it is the List of islands of the United States by area.....
, and associated smaller islands, off the Atlantic coast
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 of Maine
Maine

The State of Maine is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast....
. Traditionally inhabited by Wabanaki
Wabanaki

Wabanaki, Wabenaki, Wobanaki, etc. may refer to:In geography* area referred as the "Dawn land" by many Algonquian language-speaking peoples to describe the oriental region of the North American continent, generally described as being New England in the United States, plus Quebec and the Maritimes in Canada...
 Native American hunters, fishers, and gatherers, the area includes mountain
Mountain

A mountain is a landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill....
s, an ocean shoreline, woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
s, and lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s.. In addition to Mount Desert Island, the park comprises much of the Isle au Haut
Isle au Haut, Maine

Isle au Haut is a New England town in Knox County, Maine, Maine, United States, on an island of the same name in Penobscot Bay. The population was 79 at the 2000 United States Census....
, a small island to the southwest of Mount Desert Island and parts of Baker Island, also nearby. A portion of Schoodic Peninsula
Schoodic Peninsula

The Schoodic Peninsula is a peninsula in Down East Maine. It is located four miles east of Bar Harbor, Maine, as the crow flies. The Schoodic Peninsula contains , or approximately 5%, of Acadia National Park....
 on the mainland
Mainland

Mainland is usually the continental part of a region, as opposed to the islands nearby. Sometimes the residents are called "the Mainlanders". As a result of the usually larger area of mainland, there are significantly more mainlanders than islanders, and mainlander culture and politics sometimes threaten to dominate those of the islands....
 is also part of the park. In total, Acadia National Park consists of 30,300 acres (47 square miles or 123 kmē) on Mount Desert Island, 2,728 acres (4.6 square miles or 11 kmē) on Isle au Haut and 2,366 acres (3.5 square miles or 9.2 kmē) on the Schoodic Peninsula.

History

In the fall of 1604, Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain, , , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, geographer, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, ethnologist, diplomat, chronicler, and the founder of Quebec City on July 3, 1608, of which he was the administrator for the rest of his life....
 observed a high-notched island composed of seven or eight mountains rising to bare-rock summits from slopes of birch, fir, and pine. In spite of many changes over nearly 400 years, the area remains essentially the same.

The park was created by President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. A devout Presbyterianism and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913....
, as Sieur de Monts National Monument on July 8, 1916, administered by the National Park Service. On February 26, 1919, it became a national park, with the name Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, an influential French supporter of the American Revolution. The park's name was changed to Acadia National Park on January 19, 1929. From 1915 to 1933, the wealthy philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. financed, designed, and directed the construction of an extensive network of carriage trails throughout the park. The network encompassed over of gravel carriage trails, 17 granite bridges, and two gate lodges, almost all of which are still maintained and in use today. Cut granite stones placed along the edges of the carriage roads act as guard rails of sort and are locally known as "coping stones" to help you cope with the steep edges. They are also fondly called "Rockefeller's teeth".

On October 17, 1947, 10,000 acres (40 kmē) of Acadia National Park was burned in a fire that began along the Crooked Road several miles west of Hulls Cove. The forest fire was one of a series of fires that consumed much of Maine's forest as a result of a dry year. The fire burned for days and was fought by the Coast Guard, Army, Navy, local residents, and National Park Service Employees from around the country. Restoration of the park was supported, substantially, by the Rockefeller family, particularly John D. Rockefeller, Jr.. Regrowth was mostly allowed to occur naturally and the fire has been suggested to have actually enhanced the beauty of the park, adding diversity to tree populations and depth to its scenery. Acadia National Park is the only national park in New England and the first park on the east side of the Mississippi River

Towns and Tours


The town of Bar Harbor is located on the northeast corner of Mount Desert Island. Southwest Harbor
Southwest Harbor, Maine

Southwest Harbor is a town in Hancock County, Maine, Maine, United States on Mount Desert Island. The population was 1,966 at the 2000 United States Census....
, on the western side of the fjord
Fjord

Geologically, a fjord or fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by Glacier....
 Somes Sound, is well known for boat-building and fishing, and has the largest year-round population on Mount Desert Island. Northeast Harbor
Northeast Harbor, Maine

Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island in the town of Mount Desert, Maine in Hancock County, Maine, Maine, United States. It is located at 44? 17.75?N 068? 16.90?W....
 is known for its beautiful private "cottages" yet retains a small town atmosphere. The town of Tremont
Tremont, Maine

Tremont is a town in Hancock County, Maine, Maine, United States. It is located on the southwestern side of Mount Desert Island, known to locals as "the quietside."...
 is home to Bass Harbor Head Light
Bass Harbor Head Light

Bass Harbor Head Light is a lighthouse located within Acadia National Park on the southeast side of Mount Desert Island, Maine, United States, marking the entrance to Bass Harbor and List of bays of Maine....
 and is located on what locals refer to as the "quiet side" of the island. Cadillac Mountain
Cadillac Mountain

Cadillac Mountain is a mountain located on Mount Desert Island, within Acadia National Park. With an elevation of , its summit is the highest point in Hancock County, Maine, and the highest within of the coastline of the East Coast of the United States....
, named after the French Explorer
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac

Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac was a prominent figure in the history of New France. He was christened Antoine Laumet but upon arriving in what is now Canada in 1683 at the age of 25, he changed his identity to sieur Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac....
 of the same name who went on to found Detroit, Michigan, is on the eastern side of the island. Its green lichen-covered pink granite summit is one of the first places in the United States to see the sunrise making it a popular tourist attraction. Miles of scenic carriage roads were originally built by Rockefeller, Jr., with great sensitivity to the trees and contours of the land. The mountains of Acadia National Park offer hikers and bicycle riders views of the ocean, island lakes, and pine forests.

Centennial Initiative Project

The National Park Service, as part of their Centennial Initiative celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016, has created a project to promote voluntary, multimodal park access for present and future generations. Going “car free” offers visitors the opportunity to explore Acadia by foot, bicycle, shuttle bus, commercial tour bus, private automoblie, or private and commercial vessels. The project includes an inter-modal transportation center on state-owned land four miles (6 km) north of the park, multiple-use trails to connect gateway communities with the park, and rehabilitation of historic carriage roads surrounding Eagle Lake.

Wildlife


The park is home to some 40 different species of mammalian wildlife. Among those are red and gray squirrel
Squirrel

File:Eichh?rnchen D?sseldorf Hofgarten edit.jpgA squirrel is one of many small or medium-sized rodents in the family Sciuridae. In the English language-speaking world, squirrel commonly refers to members of this family's genus Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, indigenous to Asia, the America...
s, chipmunk
Chipmunk

Chipmunk is the common name for any small squirrel-like rodent species of the genus Tamias. There are approximately 25 species in this genus....
s, white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer

File:Wtdfishwild.jpgThe white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to all but five states in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and northern portions of South America as far south as Peru....
, moose
Moose

File:Alces alces NA.svgThe moose or elk , , is the largest Extant taxon species in the deer family . Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration....
, beaver
Beaver

Beavers are two primarily nocturnal, semi-aquatic species of rodent, one native to North America and one to Eurasia. They are known for building dams, canals, and lodges ....
, porcupine
Porcupine

Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp Spine , or quills, that defend them from predators. They are endemic in both the Old World and the New World....
, muskrat
Muskrat

The muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America....
s, fox
Fox

A fox is an animal belonging to any one of about 27 species of small to medium-sized Canidae, characterized by possessing a long, narrow snout, and a bushy tail, or brush....
es, coyote
Coyote

The coyote , also known as the prairie wolf, is a species of canid found throughout North America and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States, and Canada....
, bobcat
Bobcat

The Bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family, Felidae. With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern east Mexico, including most of the continental United States....
s, and black bear
American black bear

The American Black Bear is the most common bear species native to North America. It lives throughout much of the continent, from northern Alaska south into Mexico and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean....
s. Species that used to inhabit the island include the mountain lion (or puma) and the gray wolf
Gray Wolf

The grey wolf or gray wolf , also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago....
. It is thought that these predators have been forced to leave the area due to the dramatic decrease in small prey and proximity to human activity. Many other marine species have been observed in the surrounding area and waters.

Gallery


External links

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