Approximately 400 feet of Ocean Path is closed between Otter Cliff and Otter Point for repairs. Pedestrians should follow detour signs to walk along a portion of Park Loop Road currently closed to vehicles.
Several trails closed for Peregrine falcon nesting season
Until further notice, typically mid-August, Penobscot East Trail, Jordan Cliffs Trail, Precipice Trail, and Valley Cove Trail are closed for Peregrine falcon nesting season. Also, as roads reopen, the Precipice Trail parking lot will remain closed. More
Historic carriage roads closed until further notice for "mud season"
Spring thaw has led to temporary closures to protect Acadia's historic carriage roads during "mud season." Walking, bicycling or riding horses in these wet and soft conditions can cause costly ruts and potholes that channel water and exacerbate erosion. More
Grasses burn up in flames as a part of a prescribed burn.
NPS photo by Brady Richards
Wildland fire is a general term describing any non-structure fire that occurs in vegetation such as trees, grasses, and shrubs. Structure fires are composed of human-made objects like buildings or cars. There are essentially two main categories of wildland fire – wildfire and prescribed fire. A wildfire cannot be a prescribed fire.
Wildfire
Wildfires can be started by many different causes. This includes lightning, lava, and even people. Most wildfires in the United States are caused by humans. Every fire, every time, gets a thorough review once the fire is discovered. Multiple factors determine the response fire managers take on a wildfire once it is discovered. There is a desire to categorize a fire as "suppression" or "non-suppression" but frequently it's somewhere in the middle and managers take a variety of actions on a wildfire based on what's outlined in a fire management plan.
Prescribed burns are an important part of the management of wildland fire at Acadia National Park.
NPS photo by Brady Richards
Prescribed Fire
A prescribed fire is ignited by fire managers after careful planning, under a set of conditions that must be met prior to ignition, and is carefully monitored. Prescribed fires are carried out for very specific purposes or objectives and may be used to manage certain types of natural and cultural resources.
Can you spot the differences between before a prescribed burn (left) and after a prescribed burn (right)?
Left image
Before image taken immediately before the prescribed burn on April 26, 2024
Credit: NPS photo by Brady Richards
Right image
After image taken two months following the prescribed burn on June 18, 2024
Credit: NPS photo by Brady Richards
Map of the burn area from the Fire of 1947
History of Wildland Fire at Acadia
Wildland fire has forever shaped the landscape, from the earliest lighting strike to the use of fire as an agricultural tool by ancestral native peoples. This was especially true during and after the widespread Fire of 1947 which blanketed much of the island in flames.
Historic fire towers once dotted this landscape, and in the case of Beech Mountain fire tower, still do. In the past, people used these fire towers to spot wildland fire and supress it. Today, the National Park Service Wildland Fire Program has changed the way we view wildland fire. Fire has become an important part of how we manage the landscape at Acadia.
Acadia National Park's Fire Boss carefully observes a prescribed fire at Jordan Pond House.
NPS photo by Brady Richards
Fire Management Program
The fire management program at Acadia National Park performs a full range of wildland fire management operations and services, including fire prevention, education, preparedness, suppression, prescribed fire, hazard fuels management, the reduction of wildland/urban interface hazards, monitoring, and research. The program also conducts wildland fire prevention operations and provides fire management assistance to ten other National Park Service (NPS) units in New England including Cape Cod, which along with Acadia National Park make up the New England Fire Management Zone.
Some of the activities carried out by the fire management program include:
Wildland urban interface education and outreach
Operation of five wildland fire suppression engines and one water tender
Maintenance of a hundred-person fire cache and a twenty-person fire cache
Maintenance of a trained cadre of primary and incidental wildland firefighters
Use of prescribed fire for management of park vistas and cultural landscapes
Mechanical removal of hazard fuels in high use areas
Creation and maintenance of boundary fuel breaks along park boundaries and around selected park facilities
Monitoring of prescribed fires and long-term forest conditions
Research into fire effects and the long-term history of wildland fire in the park
Mobilization of park and other New England Fire Management firefighters to out-of-state fires is coordinated and directed by the fire management staff. This mobilization service is also provided to wildland firefighters from other federal agencies in the area, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and to local Wabanaki tribes.
The fire management program is small and relies heavily on the local fire departments for help. Therefore the fire management staff maintains agreements with every adjacent fire department throughout the zone for mutual aid response to wildland fires.
These programs protect the lives of park staff, visitors, and neighbors; provide wildland and structural fire protection to the 35,500+ acres of land and 200+ buildings that make up Acadia National Park; and assist ten other National Park Service units in the protection of their people and resources from fire.
On Saturday, May 11, at around 4:00 pm, park rangers and fire resources responded to reports of a wildland fire along the St. Sauveur hiking trail in Acadia National Park. Fire departments from Southwest Harbor, Mount Desert, and Tremont responded and helped extinguish two fires - one which burned 0.1 acres and another which burned 0.25 acres. The Maine State Forest Service coordinated a water drop from its helicopter. Through this coordinated response, the fire was suppressed by 7:00 p.m.
The National Park Service (NPS) is planning to conduct prescribed fire burning in Acadia National Park before May 10, provided weather and fuel conditions meet the conditions established in the park’s prescribed fire plan. NPS will attempt a prescribed fire at the following locations.
Locations:Acadia National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cape Cod National Seashore, Denali National Park & Preserve, Dinosaur National Monument, Glacier National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Natchez Trace Parkway, Olympic National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Wilson's Creek National Battlefieldmore »
Offices:Fire and Aviation Management, Region 11, Regions 3, 4, and 5, Regions 6, 7, and 8, US Park Police, Wildland Fire Programmore »
Staff from all levels of the National Park Service in law enforcement, United States Park Police, as well as fire and aviation spent a week learning leadership lessons from one another as well as from a diverse group of leaders during the last week of September 2019.
A camper at an illegal campsite near the base of Cadillac Summit Road started a wildfire on Friday, June 7. Visitors reported the fire to park rangers at approximately 5 pm and Bar Harbor Fire Department along with Mount Desert Fire Department extinguished the fire by 6 pm. The burned area was estimated at 0.21 acres and at least one person of interest has been identified in association with the campsite and fire.
Acadia National Park’s fire managers reached out to meet Roosevelt Campobello International Park’s need for both a wildland fire engine and expertise for its wildland urban interface challenge. The successful completion of a wildland fire engine loan from one agency to another was made possible by the collaboration of individuals from parks in the Northeast Region of the National Park Service.
The highly collaborative fuels reduction work on Bakers Island, Acadia National Park, restored defensible space for the historic lighthouse and keeper’s house and created an aesthetically pleasing, historically accurate landscape. The successful outcome and excellent safety record of the project was a direct result of the planning that went into it.
From June 2012 to June 2013, Acadia NP fire staff performed mechanical and prescribed fire fuels projects on Baker Island to provide defensible space and restore and maintain the park's cultural landscape. The work provided the opportunity for the park, fire departments, and park partners to collaborate, communicate, and develop cohesive working relations that will prove valuable on future projects and wildfire response.