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Acadia National Park’s citizen advisory commission has missed its second meeting in a row, and its third meeting in less than a year and a half, amid funding cuts and staff departures across the National Park Service.
In 1986, Congress established the 16-member commission — which consists of local area residents appointed by federal, state and municipal officials — to advise the secretary of the U.S Department of the Interior on Acadia National Park management and development. The citizen advisory body is designed to promote communication between the park and abutting communities, and according to its bylaws meets 3 times a year — typically in February, June and September.
It failed to meet in February of either 2025 or 2026, and again did not meet this week. There was no official advance warning of any of the meetings being cancelled, and none of those meetings were or have been rescheduled.
The cancellations come at a turbulent time for the park service, which has become less accessible and responsive to public inquiries over the past 18 months. Since President Donald Trump was sworn into office in January 2025, there has been a mass firing of federal workers that included eight full-time employees at Acadia, where chronic seasonal staff shortages have left the park struggling to keep up with services.
The Department of the Interior, which includes the National Park Service, is required to issue a public notice seven days ahead of each meeting, the second of which each year is usually held on the first Monday of June. Acadia officials have not said whether the meeting will be rescheduled.
Since last week, Acadia has not had a dedicated spokesperson. The Bangor Daily News did not receive a response to inquiries sent to a new, generic Acadia communications email.
Commission chair Bruce Wiersma said he did not know why the meeting had been cancelled but noted it had not been “approved or cleared through Washington.” He hopes that their September meeting will still take place.
The commission did not receive an agenda for the June meeting, Wiersma said.
“I sent out a letter to commission members this morning outlining the legal background to the commission and urging them to hang in there,” Wiersma said. “This is a legally informed commission — three times it’s been authorized by the U.S. Congress — so it’s not going to go anywhere.”
A communications backlog has mounted at the park service after the DOI began vetting all external agency communications, according to Todd Martin, a regional official with the National Parks Conservation Association.
“This is in direct conflict with Secretary Burgum’s Secretarial Order 3434, ‘Strengthening Coordination with Gateway Communities,’ which aims to improve communication and collaboration between the park service and local communities,” Martin said in a written statement. “The advisory commission is made up of residents of all area gateway communities and where the park can share key updates with the public, media and congressional staff in a public setting.”
The DOI press office did not respond to a request for comment from the Bangor Daily News.
Of the 16 people who serve on the commission, two have had their 3-years terms already expire this year, and 13 more are expected to have their terms expire in November, according to the park service. The term of the 16th member — Pearl Barto of Winter Harbor — is expected to expire next March.
Members are allowed to serve beyond the end of their terms, until they’re reappointed or replaced, according to the commission’s bylaws.
The park service posted a request for nominations to the commission in mid-May, according to the federal register. Written nominations must be submitted by June 15.