ACADIA NATIONAL PARK – Acadia officials have received word this week about the park’s preliminary 2008 budget figures, and all signs indicate the park will have at least $500,000 more than it had last year, according to a top Acadia official.

Len Bobinchok said Wednesday the park has been waiting to hear how the recently approved 2008 federal budget would apply to its annual funding. Things are not completely set, he said, and the preliminary budget figures could end up being lower than they are now. But it looks like the park will get about $7.1 million, or between $530,000 and $630,000 more than it received last year.

“It’s still very good news for us,” Bobinchok said.

Chief on the list for the additional funding is filling several seasonal positions that have gone unfilled in recent years, according to Bobinchok. He said the park likely will focus on visitor services positions, such as groundskeepers and maintenance personnel.

“That’s where we feel we need to place our efforts this year,” the deputy superintendent said.

Bobinchok said there is a chance Acadia could get additional money through the Centennial Challenge Grant program, which is aimed at improving National Park Service facilities and programs in anticipation of the service’s 100th anniversary in 2016.

President Bush had asked for $100 million for the program, he said, but Congress instead authorized $28 million.

Bobinchok said Acadia has applied for money from the grant program for certain projects. One is the “Engaging Youth” program, which would promote exercise among children by encouraging them to get involved in park activities. Another is research programs that L.L. Bean is supporting at the park’s Schoodic Education and Research Center at Schoodic Point. A third project, which already has funding from Friends of Acadia, is to construct a new village connector trail between downtown Bar Harbor and Schooner Head.

The park hopes to learn “in the very near future” if it will receive some of the Centennial Challenge money, Bobinchok said, and will have another nine years to apply for other funds from the same program.

“What we’re hearing is that we’re a very strong contender,” he said.

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

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