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Maine's State Park System Turning 75 with Slate of Special Outdoor Activities

November 17, 2009 - Camping at Maine's state parks has evolved in the past 75 years – even the past 20 years.

Consider the camper spotted at Camden Hills State Park in the middle of the night last summer.

"The ranger on patrol saw this bluish light at one of the sites at 2 a.m. He went over there, and it was a guy on his laptop on top of a picnic table using the park's WiFi and trading stocks in China," said Mike Leighton, Maine state parks northern region manager. "Many people at the tent sites like the electrical hook-ups to use their laptops or iPods."

Mostly, however, the state parks have not changed, Leighton said. And when the state celebrates the 75th anniversary of its state park system throughout the 2010 season, many of the traditional uses of the parks will be offered during a yearlong commemorative party.

State employees will lead the public in winter activities such as ice fishing, Nordic skiing and ice skating. In the summer and fall, they will offer events involving fishing and hiking.

As the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands heads into its third year of its Take It Outside campaign, designed to get more families and children outdoors, these special events will be made even more accessible and easy to learn, said Will Harris, the bureau's director.

There will be more outdoor activities at more parks more often, Harris said – all listed on a special page at the bureau's Web site, www.parksandlands.com.

In 1935, the state set up the first commission to develop a series of state parks. The first park, Aroostook State Park, was purchased by people in Presque Isle in 1938 and given to the state in 1939.

The next four state parks – Bradbury Mountain, Lake St. George, Mount Blue and Sebago Lake – opened the following year.

"It was during the Depression. In many of those parks at the time, the (Civilian Conservation Corps) activities were going on. You can see some of those buildings today at Sebago (Lake State Park)," Harris said.

Those first five parks made up the initial core and are still an important part of the state park community. However, they've since been joined by another 42 state parks and historic sites around Maine.

Now the effort is to get people out to the parks, not add new ones. "There is less picnicking than there used to be. Picnickers now are on the go, or eat before they come to the parks, go to fast-food places," Leighton said. "But our visitation is still pretty good. Camping slumped in the early '90s. It seems to be coming back."

Last February, some 300 people showed up in the winter for a carnival held at Aroostook State Park, including 35 local volunteers who helped make the daylong event happen.

"They came in and helped the park staff," Leighton said. "I had some of the best tomato soup of my life that day. There was a cookout, and everything was open: ice skating, skiing, sledding, snowshoeing."

Similar events will be held this year to promote an even better appreciation of state parks by more people, Harris said. Judging from the effort put into the Take It Outside events, Harris said, he expects these events to draw more visitors.

In 2009 thus far, park enthusiasts have spent 49,000 volunteer hours helping the state park staff put on its special events.

"We had the rainiest June on record, and through October, our figures in day-use attendance and camping are up 6 percent from last year," Harris said. "We think we're on the right track."

TO LEARN ABOUT the activities planned for the 75th anniversary of Maine's state parks in 2010, go to www.parksandlands.com. The site will be updated in the coming months.

DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald, November 15, 2009


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