Parks: Attendance plummets at Baxter, Acadia

By DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald Writer

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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	Staff file photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette Jordan Pond is one of the many scenic stops along the carriage roads in Acadia National Park. Attendance at Acadia dropped 20 percent from 2000 to 2005.
	Staff file photo by John Ewing A moose and her calf keep a wary eye on passing canoeists on Kidney Pond in Baxter State Park.

Use of Maine's two premier parks - Baxter State Park and Acadia National Park - has fallen sharply since 2000, a drop that mirrors national trends and is blamed by some on an exploding preoccupation with the Internet and entertainment media.

At Baxter, which is funded by an endowment and user fees, the number of visitors declined from 75,000 to 56,000 in the five-year period that ended last year. The resulting decline in revenue could force shorter seasons at the home of Mount Katahdin.

Attendance at Acadia dropped 20 percent during the same period, from 2.5 million to 2 million.

Maine's many state parks attracted nearly 2.1 million visitors in 2005, a decline of just 2.5 percent for the period. However, the decline is much greater when compared with 2001, when nearly 2.6 million people visited state parks.

A study funded by The Nature Conservancy and published this month in the Journal of Environmental Management links the decline to television, movies and the Internet.

The study found that park attendance increased nationally from 1939 to 1987. The steady decline since then has accompanied an explosion in electronic entertainment. "There is a lot of talk on how alienated we are becoming, more alienated from each other, and more alienated from the environment we live in, even in a place like Maine," said Bruce Kidman, spokesman for The Nature Conservancy in Maine. According to the study, the average person in the United States went from spending no time on the Internet in 1987 to 174 hours a year in 2003. Likewise, the average U.S. citizen went from spending no time playing video games 19 years ago to playing 90 hours a year three years ago. The trend is of particular concern at Baxter State Park, which was given to the state by former Gov. Percival Baxter.

It costs $3 million annually to operate the park, and one-third of the budget is funded by user fees, including those paid by out-of-state visitors. Maine residents pay to rent cabins and other camping facilities, but do not pay to enter the park, a privilege mandated by Baxter as a condition of his gift.

The remainder of the budget is funded by interest from Baxter's $64 million endowment.

But if attendance continues to drop, said Baxter State Park Director Jensen Bissell, the season may be shortened to cut down on the cost of staffing the park.

Unique management rules prohibit officials from promoting the park to help increase attendance. The park season runs from May 15 to Oct. 15 for the general public.

Bissell is not hopeful that attendance trends can be reversed at the park that Baxter required remain "forever wild" and offers few modern conveniences to campers and day trippers.

"I think that what we offer is at the other end of the spectrum for people recreating outdoors. There are more folks with less of these skills who are less willing to put in an effort," Bissell said. "They like a few more amenities. I'm not sure that is something that will change in the short term for us."

Department of Conservation Commissioner Pat McGowan said Maine has done well at its state parks compared with the rest of the nation.

"Maine is a rural state, but not like Idaho. It is six hours from 25 million people, and six hours from New York. I think the trend for us is better," McGowan said.

But Charlie Jacobi, resource specialist at Acadia National Park, said there is reason to believe the trend there is linked to a changing social consciousness everywhere.

"Adults are less used to giving long leashes (to their children). I used to run around the woods. Now, there is Lyme disease and West Nile virus and other things that can hurt you," Jacobi said.

Kidman said that to reverse the trends, outdoor educators and stewards need to do more to introduce children to natural areas, even in Maine.

"Maine has something like 100 land trusts. We clearly have something exceptional. But this study is a wake-up call," Kidman said.

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at: