Saved for Future Generations

Saved for Future Generations. Acadia National Park. , Inspired to protect the beauty and diversity of Mount Desert Island from encroaching development, a passionate group of local and summer residents waged a campaign to conserve this landscape for public use. With varied backgrounds but a common foresight, these artists, naturalists, philanthropists, and others encouraged individuals to donate tracts, purchase lands, and seek federal protection. They succeeded in establishing the first eastern national park-one of a few created almost entirely of land donated to the federal government. , Major Events in Acadia's History , 1903 George B. Dorr and Charles Eliot organize Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations (HCTPR) το acquire parcels of land on Mount Desert island. , 1908 Mrs. Eliza Homan makes the first major donation to HCTPR with a gift of The Beehive and Bowl on Champlain Mountain. , 1908-1911 The summit area and most of the north, east, and west slopes of Cadillac Mountain are protected by HCTPR. , 1916 Sieur de Monts National Monument is established. , 1917-1940 John D. Rockefeller Jr. builds over 50 miles of carriage roads in the park and donates them to Acadia. , 1919 Sieur de Monts National Monument becomes Lafayette National Park, the first eastern national park. , 1929 Lafayette National Park is renamed Acadia, a historic name for this region. Schoodic Peninsula is donated to the park. , 1932 Construction of the Cadillac Mountain motor road is completed. , 1971 The first conservation easement is conveyed to the park. Today, conservation easements protect over 12,000 acres of private land around Acadia National Park. , 1986 Friends of Acadia is established as a nonprofit membership organization benefiting Acadia through philanthropy and volunteerism. , 1999 Island Explorer propane powered shuttle bus service begins, reducing pollution and congestion in the park. , 2011 The former US Navy base in Winter Harbor, Maine, is renovated and reopened as the Schoodic Education and Research Center (SERC) in Acadia National Park. ,