Summit Stewards 2018
Ley S, Ducker S, Laird C, Connelly I. 2018. Summit Stewards 2018. National Park Service, Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia. Bar Harbor, ME
From the executive summary: "The 2018 Summit Stewards, operating similarly to the 2017 season, supported the park by enhancing the visitor experience and mitigating visitor impacts. Notable administrative changes were the transition from Resource Management to Interpretation and Education Division, additional cross trainings, and increased staffing - 9 Summit Stewards for the summer and 4 in the fall. Summit Stewards expanded their outreach opportunities this season through new Leave No Trace presentations, increased interactions with Junior Rangers, and more responsibility when opening the Beech Mountain Fire Tower. Highlights: - Leave No Trace: taught 7,241 visitors through informal encounters, teachable moments, trivia on Cadillac Mt, a new Emerald Ash Borer poster, and 333 hours postering at trailheads; presented a kids program at the library; educated AYCC on waste disposal - Interpretation: contacted 28,102 visitors throughout the park, informally on the trails and on Cadillac; opened Beech Mt Fire Tower to the public 20 times; swore in 95 new Junior Rangers; informed over 90 dog owners about the new Bark Ranger Program - Trail maintenance: hiked for 778 hours, repaired 840 cairns, destroyed 997 rock stacks, brushed in social trails, trimmed vegetation, and replaced Dorr Summit sign - Cadillac Mountain: spent 820 hours on the summit during the day and through sunset 11% of that time was monitoring traffic which resulted in Summit Stewards assisting with 50 road closures and 58 BHO closures - Search and Rescues: spent over 38 hours assisting on at least 15 SARs - Stewardship Crew: assisted with the Jordan Pond bogwalk, the Seaside Path work site removal, and other miscellaneous projects - Recreation Technician: distributed Visitor Survey Cards and helped with PPV Study - Acadia Youth Tech Team: collaborated to publish #TrailsTuesday social media posts - Isle au Haut: 2 trips to trim trails, collect trash, and repair bog walk - Schoodic: 2 fall trips to Little Moose Island to trim trails and collect trash Suggestions: - Park: adding a path between BHO and the Summit lot; increase signage on Cadillac mountain; affixing permanent cairns on the Gorge Path; adding coping stones; adding a trash can at the Precipice Trailhead. - Program: maintain interdisciplinary program through diverse programs, including shifting to more trail related work in the fall, such as replacing the 'ghostbuster' signs; continue to expand Leave No Trace opportunities to visitors and staff; refine training schedule to consolidate and disperse resource training sessions and incorporate returning staff as co-trainers."
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Ley, Stephanie; Ducker, Sean; Laird, Colleen; Connelly, Isabella
- Date of Issue
- 2018-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Bicycling, Buses, Carrying capacity, Facilities, Geologic formations, Human impact, Human use, Lakes and ponds, Mountains, Parking area, Roads, Social trails, Traffic, Trail use, Trails, Trampling, Transportation, Visitor experience, Visitor use, Visitors