BREAKING NEWS: Former park superintendent Paul Haertel is dead
BAR HARBOR - June 6, 2022 - Former superintendent of Acadia National Park Paul Haertel died on Sunday.
He was in the park service for 41 years and worked in eight different parks. He was head of Acadia from 1994 to 2002.
His work included ranger and park management positions. In 1994, he was reassigned from Alaska to Acadia National Park. After retirement he continued to appreciate and enjoy a broad array of outdoor activities.
He served on the board of Maine Woods Forever, an organization dedicated to protecting the legacy of Maine’s forests and woodlands by promoting stewardship of these natural resources, finding common ground with diverse people and groups to foster responsible use and shared stewardship of Maine’s forests and woodlands.
In 2016, he joined with Sheridan Steele, who succeeded him as superintendent, and two former presidents of Friends of Acadia to support a new national park in the Katahdin region.
Ken Olson, Marla O'Byrne, Haertel and Sheridan said there was original opposition to Acadia, Baxter State Park, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, the Bigelow Preserve and Moosehorn National Wildlife refuge. But they say all of those are now revered by Mainers, reported the Portland Press Herald.