National Park Service opens public comment on Indigenous plant gathering in Acadia National Park

Date:
December 19, 2023
Contact:Amanda Pollock, 207-288-8806

BAR HARBOR, MAINE - The National Park Service initiated an opportunity for public comment on plans to permit the gathering of sweetgrass for traditional purposes by enrolled members of the five Wabanaki Nations.

The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Mi'kmaq Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribes at Pleasant Point and at Indian Township, and the Penobscot Nation, referred collectively as the Wabanaki, are culturally affiliated with lands and waters of Acadia National Park. The establishment of Acadia National Park in 1916 radically changed Wabanaki people's access to park lands and prohibited traditional uses, including traditional practices of gathering sweetgrass. The park is actively working with the Wabanaki Nations to establish new and meaningful relationships that center around the reconnection of these lands with the Wabanaki Peoples.

In 2015, The National Park Service issued regulations allowing park units to negotiate and enter into agreements with federally recognized tribes for the gathering of plants or plant parts. As a response to this regulation, Acadia National Park initiated a project to assess the environmental impact of traditional harvesting practices on sweetgrass in designated areas of the park. The project led by Suzanne Greenlaw, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Maine and a member of the Houlton Band of Maliseet, Michelle Baumfleck, Ph.D., research scientist at the U.S. Forest Service, Rebecca Cole-Will, the park's Lead of Resource Management, and 15 Wabanaki tribal members and sweetgrass harvesters demonstrated that traditional and contemporary Wabanaki cultural practices of harvesting promote the health and sustainability of sweetgrass and of the surrounding species.

"The project that informs our proposal underscores the value of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge," says Acadia National Park superintendent Kevin Schneider. "This proposal will help us continue building co-stewardship practices with affiliated Tribal nations and allow us to take a step forward in making Acadia a more welcoming place for all people."

Gathering of sweetgrass was once a common practice of Indigenous people across Maine. The Wabanaki People have extensive knowledge and expertise in caring for and sustaining their Ancestral Homelands.

Comments must be submitted to the National Park Service's Planning, Environment and Public Comment website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/acadiagathering. Comments will be accepted from December 18 through January 17, 2024.

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