Acadia (National Park)

Before the creation of the park

Archaeological evidence indicates that Mount Desert Island was inhabited 6,000 years ago. In historical time, the Wabanaki Indians engaged in hunting and fishing lived here. Their first contact with the Europeans occurred on September 5, 1604 , when a French expedition landed on the island under the command of Samuel de Champlain , subsequently the founder of the first settlements of French Canada. Since 1613, the island ended up in no man's land between French Canada and the British Massachusetts, and for 150 years it was used only as a navigational reference ^[1] . In 1688, the Frenchman Antoine Lome (also known as de Lamot-Cadillac ) received land leases from the government along the Maine coast, including the weight of Mount Desert Island, but soon abandoned the idea of ​​building a feudal state there. He later became the founder of Detroit .

In 1759, British troops finally destroyed the French presence on the coast of Maine, and the entire coast was open for settlement. Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard received Mount Desert Island in concession from the British monarchy and in 1760 offered land for free distribution to immigrants. The first two families permanently settled on the island were the families of Abraham Soames and James Richardson. After the Revolutionary War, Bernard lost the rights to the island, and the new US government transferred the western part of Mount Desert to his son, John Bernard, and the eastern part to Maria Theres de Gregoire, Cadillac’s granddaughter. Both owners quickly sold their land. In the 19th century, the flow of immigrants to the island increased. The main occupations of the inhabitants were agriculture and fishing. In the middle of the century, the island became popular among artists, especially landscape painters of the Hudson School, including Thomas Cole and Frederick Church , who appreciated the natural beauty of the island. By the 1880s, the island was turning into a popular vacation spot for citizens, many farms were sold and turned into summer cottages. In 1880, there were 30 hotels operating on the island, and tourism was the main source of income. The families of the Rockefellers, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Fords, Carnegie spent the summer on the island. This situation ended only with the Great Depression , and in 1947 a fire destroyed most of the villas.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, supporters of land conservation and their transformation into a conservation zone, led by Charles Dorr, have organized the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations . By 1913, the company bought 6,000 acres (about 25 km²) of land and offered to transfer it to the federal government.

After the creation of the park

The park was created by decree of President Woodrow Wilson on July 8, 1916 as the Sier Demont National Monument. Charles Dorr became the first superintendent of the park. From its inception to the present, the park has been managed by the US National Park Service . On February 26, 1919, the national monument was transformed into Lafayette National Park (in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette , a participant in the US War of Independence). The park received its modern name - Acadia National Park - January 19, 1929 .

From 1915 to 1933 with the money of John Rockefeller on Mount Desert Island, a network of gravel roads with a total length of about 50 km, including 17 granite bridges, was designed and built. Almost all of this network is used to this day.

October 17, 1947 there was a catastrophic fire, which burned out 40 km² of forest ^[2] . The fire was one of many that occurred in Maine in the dry summer of 1947. The fire was extinguished for several days; the forces of the coast guard, fleet, army, local residents and the staff of the National Park Service gathered from all over the country were involved. A significant part of the funds spent on the restoration of the park was donated by the Rockefeller family.

Geology

Acadia National Park is a typical part of the coastal landscape of Maine , which arose as a result of the destruction of a mountain range that ran along the modern coast, a glacier that melted the Gulf of Man . The result of the glacier's activity is the Soames Sound Fjord , the only fjord on the US Atlantic coast.

The tidal strip is from three to four meters. Most of the coast is rocky, but rocky and even sandy beaches are found.

Earthquakes sometimes occur in the park, but they are relatively rare. From 1747 to 1992, a total of 507 earthquakes occurred ^[3] . So, on October 2, 2006, an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 occurred in the park. The epicenter was located in the Atlantic Ocean. Some trails and roads were littered with stones and temporarily closed.

Climate

The climate of the park is milder than in other parts of northern New England. 135 cm of rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year. Temperatures can vary from −20 degrees in winter to +30 degrees in summer. In winter, snow falls, but often melts when warming. In winter and early spring, snowstorms are frequent, and it rains almost every month. Fog often lays in the park, most likely in June. In late autumn and winter, strong winds turn into storms. Sometimes hurricanes pass through a region.

From November 1 to April 15, the national park is officially considered the winter season, when most of the tourist roads and other infrastructure are closed.

Natural Zones and Ecosystems

Despite its small area, the Acadia National Park contains several different types of natural landscapes: mountains, lakes and ponds, forests, beaches and beaches, swamps and other areas periodically flooded with water.

Mountains

The entire center of the island is occupied by mountains, of which the highest is Mount Cadillac (466 m). This is not the easternmost point of the United States, but because of the height of the mountain, it receives in autumn and winter the first rays of the sun before any other points in the United States. All mountains of tectonic and volcanic origin, later leveled by a glacier. The mountains on Mount Desert Island are covered in spruce and pine forests. The only road to the top of Mount Cadillac is the one that is closed during the winter season.

• Mount Cadillac (formerly Green) - height ^[4] 466 m;
• Sargent - 418;
• Dorr (formerly Fling-Skadron) - 387;
• Pimitik - 380;
• Pinobskot (formerly Jordan) - 364;
• Bernard - 326;
• Champlain (formerly Newport) - 322;
• Gilmore - 316;
• Bold - 297;
• Mansell - 289;
• Cedar-Swamp - 287;
• Parkman (former Little Brown) - 287;
• North Bubble - 266;
• Norumbega (formerly Brown) - 260;
• Beach - 256;
• South Bubble - 233;
• Eugene Head - 223;
• McFarland - 221;
• Triad - 212;
• Acadia (formerly Robinson) - 208;
• Youngs - 207;
• Saint-Saver (former Dog) - 207;
• Day - 177;
• Gorem - 160;
• Behive - 158;
• Fling - 87.

Forests

The park is located in the transition zone between the northern coniferous and southern broad-leaved forests. Most of the territory is covered with spruce-pine forests, which reflects the northern influence. Separately, there are groves of deciduous trees typical of New England - beech, oak, maple and others. In the north-east of the park there are several unique, isolated groves: pine ( English pitch pine ) and dwarf oak ( English scrub oak ), which do not grow north of Acadia. In the south, Banks pine Jack Pine reaches the southern border of its distribution; it does not grow south of Acadia. Most of the forest was restored after the fire of 1947 and, thus, now has an age of about 50 years; deciduous trees, such as birch and poplar, are more widespread than before the fire, due to slow-growing conifers.

Lakes

Lakes cover an area of ​​1052 hectares , which is 7.4% of the park. Directly in the park and on the adjacent territory there are 14 Big Ponds ( English Great Ponds ), each with an area of ​​at least 4 hectares, and 10 smaller lakes. Some of them have a depth of more than 30 m. The following is a list of Big Ponds in the park ^[5] .

1. Jordan Pond - depth 46 m;
2. Long Pond - 34 m;
3. Eagle Lake - 34 m;
4. Eiko Lake - 20 m;
5. Long Pond (Ile-o-O Island) - 18 m;
6. Seal-Cove-Pond - 13 m;
7. Lower Headlock Pond - 12 m;
8. Bubble Pond - 12 m;
9. Upper Headlock Pond - 11 m;
10. Whitch Hole Pond - 10 m;
11. Hogdon Pond - 7 m;
12. Round Pont - 6 m;
13. Lake Wood - 3 m;
14. Ant Betty Pond - 2 m.

Fauna

There are several dozen species of mammals in the park ^[6] , including coyote , fox , raccoon , otter , virginian deer , hare , six species of bats (two of them are observed in the park almost daily), several species of rodents ( long-tailed porcupine , forest groundhog , three species of squirrels , chipmunk , beaver (livestock restored in 1921 ), several species of mice and voles ), six species of moles . From time to time, large animals are observed in the park, such as elk , bear, and red lynx . Once upon a time there was a puma and a wolf on the island. It is assumed that they went to the continent due to an increase in the scale of human activity and a corresponding decrease in the number of small mammals that make up their food. There are whales and dolphins in the ocean; common seal is often observed.

Amphibians (frogs and salamanders) and reptiles (four species of snakes and two species of turtles) are also found. 28 species of fish are found in lakes and streams, of which 15 are considered traditionally inhabited here, and the rest are recorded ^[7] .

338 bird species were observed in the park ^[8] . In 1984, the park began restoring a population of peregrine falcons , which have not appeared here since 1956 and were in the United States on the verge of extinction in the 1960s.

Cities and towns

The largest town, Bar Harbor , is located in the northeastern part of Mount Desert Island. Southwest Harbor , on the western side of the Soames Sound Fjord, is a city of fishermen and shipbuilders with the largest year-round population on the island. Nortist Harbor , on the east side of the fjord, consists of private cottages. The city of Tremont , where the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse is located, is located on the southern tip of the island, the most remote from the tourist infrastructure of the park. All these cities are located outside the Acadia National Park.

In 2004, 100 employees worked on a regular basis in the park. An additional 130 employees were hired for temporary work in the summer months. The head of the park is the Superintendent.

Acadia National Park is visited by more than two million tourists a year, it closes the top ten most visited US national parks. The average duration of a visit is 3-4 days. Entrance to the park is paid; in 2008, a pass cost $ 20 per car and lasted a week.

There are two campsites in the park. There are no hotels in the park, but they are available in sufficient numbers on Mount Desert Island, primarily in Bar Harbor . 201 kilometers of trails and 72 kilometers of roads, mainly gravel, were laid for visitors to the park. Most of them are closed to visitors in the winter, from December 1 to April 15 . The basis of the road system is a ring road 43 km long, also closed in winter. In addition, asphalt roads connecting the settlements of the island pass through the park. There are opportunities for kayaking and canoeing. Bird watching is also popular. including trips to the ocean to observe the Atlantic puffins .

• Acadia (National Park ) . Geographic Names Information System (USA) , US Geological Survey .
• National Park Service: Acadia National Park