Article

Portraits of Acadia: Stefanie Shattenberg

Woman stands in front of an office desk. — Stefanie Shattenberg, Recreation Fee Specialist, stands in front of her office desk.
NPS photo by Brady Richards

I am a Recreation Fee Specialist within the Fees workgroup in the Visitor & Resource Protection division. Buffalo National River in Arkansas was my first NPS site in 2012 as a seasonal park guide. After my first season, I realized that developing and delivering programs was not for me. Acadia hired me as a seasonal fee collector in 2013 and I quickly fell in love with the area and enjoyed my job duties much more as a fee collector than a park guide. I returned in 2014 to the same seasonal position then became a remitter in 2015. I eventually got a permanent remit position in 2018 and have moved up within the Fees workgroup from there.

I wanted a position that would allow me to help conserve green spaces for future generations. Originally, I thought that being a park guide was one of the few positions available to the general public that would help me fulfill my conservation mission. After my first season I discovered there are so many different positions within the NPS, and I am still discovering new ones even after a decade of working for the same agency.

Stef's employee works the entrance booth at Sand Beach — One of Stef's staff working the fee entrance station at Sand Beach.
NPS photo by Brady Richards

I help to hire and train fee collectors at Acadia. There are six fee stations in the park and all are staffed with fee collectors. Acadia keeps 80% of the entrance fees collected here at the park. The funds go toward things like protecting park resources, repairing facilities, improving park infrastructure, enhancing visitor services, and funding the majority of the Island Explorer bus system. Having well-trained fee staff means that we will be better able to keep the park as amazing as it is with the funds they collect.

I also manage all of the park’s third-party seller agreements. Local organizations, like town offices, chambers of commerce, and hotels, are able to sell certain park passes and keep a portion of the revenue. Acadia is so intertwined with the local communities and having as many third-party seller agreements as we do helps to strengthen the relationship between the park and the local organizations.

Fee staff scans a recently purchased park pass.
NPS photo by Brady Richards

When I was a seasonal at Sand Beach Entrance Station, a foreign visitor came through the station to purchase his pass. During the interaction, he held up a very well-used book and said that the book helped teach him English and it is the reason he was there. The cover of the book looked exactly like the coastline at Acadia. Knowing someone traveled halfway across the planet to visit the park I worked at really brought home my personal mission of wanting to protect the park for future generations.

For me, Acadia means community. This is the only place where I have felt a strong sense of community, both within all the workgroups at the park and within the local towns. Folks go out of their way to make sure those who might need extra support get the extra support. Whether that is organizing a meal train for someone who is recovering from surgery or chipping in to get an expectant mother a gift certificate for a postpartum support doula. There are always events going on in the local communities, even in the frigid winter. Those attending the event really make you feel welcome, especially if it’s your first time there.

Acadia is a wonderful place on its own, and the people that work here to protect the park take so much pride in their mission. That is what makes Acadia special.

– Stefanie Shattenberg, Recreation Fee Specialist