ACADIA NATIONAL PARK (AP) – Acadia National Park says a hiring freeze and maintenance cutbacks are among $500,000 in budget cuts planned for this year because of lack of funding.

Visitors to the nation’s ninth most visited park can expect to see reductions in staff and services this summer, officials said, but the “dramatic cuts” will take place next year if the fiscal picture fails to improve.

“As hard as the cuts are this year, they still are the easier cuts – ‘easier’ is in quotes – compared to what we will have to do next year,” Superintendent Sheridan Steel said Tuesday.

“If we have a similar situation next year, there will be further cuts; quite dramatic cuts, probably,” Steel said.

The budget cuts announced Tuesday include a hiring freeze for all permanent full-time employees; less maintenance and upkeep of park property, including public restrooms; taking vehicles and equipment that need repairs out of service for the foreseeable future; and cutting educational programs led by park rangers.

The National Park Service budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 shows no significant increase in funding for Acadia, the officials said.

“I’m not optimistic that it’s going to be any better next year,” Steel said.

Once this year’s cuts are factored into the park’s operational budget, officials will have to find new cuts next year.

Assistant Superintendent Len Bobinchock said Acadia is in a better position that most national parks because it has a sizable cadre of summer workers that gives the park some flexibility when making spending cuts. Many parks are cutting full-time permanent jobs, he said.

Still, Bobinchock said he could not recall when the park made similar reductions in employees and services in his 15 years at Acadia.

“I think we’re going to make it through the summer,” he said. “(Acadia) won’t be as nice as in previous years, but I think visitors will still enjoy the park.”

AP-ES-03-17-04 0218EST