In 2001 Acadia National Park launched a wildfire fuel break program to reduce the chances of wildfire traveling between the park and surrounding communities and to protect selected park facilities. In collaboration with local communities, fuel breaks are strategically located to maximize their effect in protecting an area. The park's fuel breaks are located along sections of the park boundary near the villages of Bar Harbor, Bass Harbor, Otter Creek, Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Tremont, and other clusters of structures neighboring and within the park.

Objectives

• To provide for public and firefighter safety.
• To remove ladder fuels to prevent fire from burning up into the trees.
• To prevent fire from burning the tree canopies by fire jumping tree to tree.
• To protect the structures within the park and along the park boundary from wildfires that would otherwise burn, or would be more difficult to suppress, without the treatment.
• To keep fires on the forest floor where they can be most effectively fought.

Definitions

Fuel: Any material in wildland areas that can potentially burn. This includes grass, bushes, trees, and structures.

Fuel Break: Fuel breaks are 50-feet-wide strips of park boundary, treated by removing small tress and light fuels up to three inches DBH (diameter at breast height) for the first 10 feet. The next 40 feet are selectively cut and thinned by removing the ladder fuels (lower hanging branches) and light fuels that could ignite and burn easier than the large fuels. The removal of ladder fuels prevents a fire on the ground (surface fire) from jumping up into trees and spreading rapidly. All cutting is done carefully with chainsaws and hand-tools. All off-road travel is on foot to and from boundary work locations.

Wildland-Urban Interface(WUI): The areas where there is a risk for fire to move between wildlands and structures. These areas are hazardous to wildland fire fighters because structures often have propane and oil tanks, electrical lines, and things that are especially toxic and unpredictable when they burn.

Location of Fuel Breaks
The following maps show the location of each fuel break section:

Mount Desert Island

• Aunt Betty's Pond - pdf - 380kb
• Bar Harbor - pdf - 393kb
• Bass Harbor - pdf - 385kb
• South Hall Quarry - pdf - 328kb
• Lakewood & Youngs Mountain - pdf - 431kb
• Lower Hadlock Pond - pdf - 369kb
• Norwood Ridge - pdf - 490kb
• Otter Creek - pdf - 417kb
• Pretty Marsh - pdf - 435kb
• Seal Harbor - pdf - 378kb
• Southwest Valley - pdf - 396kb
• Uncle Dick Hill - pdf - 430kb
• North-Southwest Harbor - pdf - 349kb
• West-Southwest Harbor - pdf - 393kb
• Whalesback - pdf - 398kb

Satellite Areas

• Schoodic Peninsula - to be added
• Island of Isle Au Haut - to be added

Comment: Boundary lines and fuel break lines are drawn, and are not exact.

For comments or inquiries about the fuel break program or upcoming projects please contact Fred Olson at Acadia National Park at 207-288-8781 or via e-mail.