National Parks Traveler: National Park Nostalgia, Friends Of Acadia Update

This week we pick up with the musings of Doug Leen.  As a young park ranger in the 1970s, Leen stumbled upon a poster promoting a meet-the-ranger event at the Grand Teton National Park.  It turned out to be one of 14 long-forgotten silk-screened posters made under the Works Progress Administration to promote tourism to the national parks. 

In the 50 years since that discovery, Leen has been searching high and low for the rest of the missing posters.  His efforts have yielded noteworthy success, stirring up widespread interest in the posters and evolving into a thriving printing business of his own.

As Lynn Riddick continues her talk with Doug, he discusses his business, Ranger Doug’s Enterprises, and how the popularity of the posters has generated millions of dollars in revenue for the national parks. 

We also check in with Earl Brechlin, the communications director for Friends of Acadia, to get the latest on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting that friends group and how it is responding.