Draft documents obtained by NOTUS describe a proposed National Park Service reorganization that would place some parks at the center of regional “hub and spoke” networks.

Carrie Jones

Sep 09, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Coastal Kayaking Tours and Acadia Bike.

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ACADIA NATIONAL PARK—New plans are underway for the reorganization of all of the country’s national parks, according to reporting from The Washington Sun/NOTUS. The potential reorganization also includes other portions of the federal Department of the Interior.

If it goes forward, it will be the second reorganization in less than two years.

“The agency is looking to reshape its most public-facing offices, according to draft internal agency planning documents from late August obtained by NOTUS and confirmed by an Interior executive involved in the reorganizations who spoke on the condition of anonymity,” NOTUS writes.

There are 430 park units in the country and the plan, NOTUS states, involves “transitioning the park service to a new ‘hub and spoke’ model, with some ‘hub’ parks given the power to manage priorities, leadership and direction for ‘spoke’ parks that would report (to) them, according to the documents.”

The documents seem to indicate that power would be more centralized in those hub national parks.

“They would direct priorities and vision, while ‘spoke’ parks would be responsible for implementation,” NOTUS writes. It also speaks toward reciprocally sharing more resources from hub parks to the spoke parks. How those resources are managed, however, will likely be managed at the hub park with a goal, according to NOTUS’ reading of the documents, toward efficiency and an optimization or resources.

The plan is just a draft. It has not yet be presented to Congress.

John Garder, senior director of budget and appropriations for the National Parks Conservation Association, a parks advocacy group, told the Bangor Daily News that Acadia would likely be a hub park due to its status as one of the nation’s most visited parks, with 4 million visits in 2025.

Garder also told the Bangor Daily that he worried that the federal government would treat the plan as a “one-size-fits-all” situation despite the difference in different sites’ focuses and sizes and missions.

In 1916, the National Park Service began with an imperative to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”

In the 2026 fiscal budget, President Trump’s administration funded the National Park Service at $2.1 billion. Most of that was for park operations. The year before, the administration had proposed $3.6 billion.

A January 2025 hiring freeze kept many civilian positions that were vacant from being filled. According to the NCPA, the workforce of the entirety of the National Park Service has been cut by one-quarter.

“Since January 2025, the National Park Service has lost nearly 25% of its permanent workforce, driven primarily by mass terminations, early retirements, and deferred resignations,” NCPA shared in a press release.

National Parks Conservation Association’s Northeast Senior Program Manager, Todd Martin, former Acadia National Park Superintendent Sheridan Steele, and others told the Bar Harbor Story this August that they worry that with staffing shortages and decreased funding the park’s mission is becoming harder and harder to achieve.

“The staffing for the National Park Service was short before DOGE took control and now we’re down 25%,” Steele said outside the park’s Hulls Cove visitor center during the National Park Service’s birthday.

“It’s a huge problem,” Steele said. “Employees can’t talk about it. Their hands are tied.”

The Bar Harbor Story has reached out to the National Parks Service’s communications office and did not receive a response by press time.

The Acadia National Park Advisory Committee is set to meet, after a long hiatus, September 14. There is currently no designated spokesperson for the park, nor has there been since Spring 2026.

For more information about the committee meeting, please visit Acadia National Park Advisory Commission.

Zoom link: https://friendsofacadia.zoom.us/meeting/register/UNIE41t-RCGn0oi8hBJY2Q

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