Acadia National Park

If the park can’t provide bedrooms for prospective seasonal employees, most couldn’t find a place to live within commuting distance — also increasingly the case with permanent staff.

Overall, Bar Harbor had a middling season, but it really came down to whom you talk to. Lodgings did pretty well, compared with last year. The retail sector was probably hit a little more, with the loss of cruise ship traffic.

The timing of the shutdown comes during the fall foliage season, which is among Acadia’s busiest periods and a major driver of the regional economy.

The Schoodic district encompasses just 5% of the park. But it’s seeing a record number of visitors this summer.

To greet the park's 4 million annual visitors, the $27.7 million Acadia Gateway Center is situated on the main thoroughfare to Mount Desert Island.

Maine’s jobless rate remains below the state's 5.4% long-term average since January 1976, when Barry Manilow’s “I Write the Songs” was at the top of the pop charts.

Despite rain, Memorial Day weekend saw visitor numbers comparable to the last few years. The report came amid concerns that U.S. tensions with Canada might hurt Maine's summer tourism season. 

The vote on bond funding allows Island Housing Trust to move forward with development of nine homes for the local workforce.

Maine's Acadia National Park, which gets roughly 4 million visitors a year, is among the national parks with a to-do list of maintenance projects.

Lisa Frazell joins the Schoodic Institute as development director after serving in a similar role at Husson University.