A plan by the Trump administration to overhaul the way national parks are managed is raising concerns with conservation groups and local communities.
The reorganization plan calls for the creation of so-called "hub and spoke parks," where parks designated as hubs would have oversight over parks designated as spokes, according to reporting from the Washington Sun.
John Gardner with the National Parks and Conservation Association says the plan could place more pressure on staff at Acadia.
It could be considered a "hub" park based on its popularity, says Gardner. Acadia’s superintendent already oversees two other parks.
"He is also significantly short staffed to do the work that he has to do because Acadia is a complex park with a lot of resources to protect, and of course, an extraordinary number of visitors," Gardner says. "That poses a significant challenge and requires a lot of managerial expertise. ... If the Acadia superintendent were given several more parks to manage, that is going to stretch him even thinner when he's already short-staffed, and those other parks are very likely short-staffed as well."
Some positions at Acadia have already been consolidated or shifted onto other staff, Gardner says.
Gardner says Acadia has about 60 full-time staff vacancies and some work in resource protection isn’t getting done, including repair projects and monitoring invasive species.
