Acadia National Park - Pests

Acadia National Park by National Parks Service

Pests are those species that interfere with the purposes of the park such as protecting natural or cultural resources, or visitor safety. For example, carpenter ants threaten the structural integrity of park buildings. Raccoons and red foxes can carry rabies and quickly learn to agressively scavenge food scraps from campers and other visitors.

Non-native diseases such as beech bark disease and white pine blister rust kill trees, and can change the structure, composition, and functions of forests in Acadia. The National Park Service uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to manage pests. This approach is based on proper identification of a pest and a thorough understanding of the biology of the pest species being managed. It uses an "integrated" approach - that is, pests are managed only when damage reaches a pre-determined threshold, using a variety of treatments such as mechanical, physical, cultural or biological.

Chemical treatments are used only as a last resort, and only when shown to be the most effective and least damaging method of treatment.