A commission set up to advise the U.S. secretary of the interior on matters related to management and development of Acadia National Park will be able to meet again in September after being suspended in May. In May, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke suspended all 220 federal advisory boards across the country.
During a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Zinke told independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine, that he suspended the advisory groups to learn more about the panels' memberships, budgets, accomplishments and goals. King told Zinke that the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission is very important and makes a great contribution.
"They're volunteer members; there's some administrative costs, I understand, and that's what we're talking about, but I think this is a case where the value to the park system in terms of good relations with its neighbors outweighs the fairly minor savings," said King.
King and Maine's other U.S. senator, Susan Collins, said they sent a letter to Zinke urging him to reconsider his decision to suspend the Acadia Commission.
