During a two-month period during the spring of 1993, NPS conducted 11 focus groups in the Upper St. John Valley. The purpose was to gain greater insight into local definitions of Maine Acadian culture and to inform revision of the 1992 draft of Acadian Culture in Maine. The research design was based on comments made by Maine Acadians at public meetings and in response to the 1992 public review draft. Sixty-three people participated. The data collected was analyzed by a consulting anthropologist (Kovacich 1993).

In July 1993 NPS conducted a workshop regarding language use in the Upper St. John Valley, as it relates to cultural conservation planning. The workshop included an interdisciplinary group of experts from the Upper St. John Valley and elsewhere including: the director of the Valley bilingual education project; a Valley native studying French at the graduate level; the director of Centre de littérature, Université Sainte-Anne (Nova Scotia); linguistic anthropologists from the University of Vermont and American University; and the NPS senior anthropologist and members of the planning team. Conclusions drawn from the workshop were incorporated into this volume by the associate professor of anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Vermont.

The National Park Service has used meetings of the Maine Acadian Culture Preservation Commission as a forum for public involvement in collecting data about Maine Acadian culture. Between June 1992 and November 1993, the NPS planning team captain has presented a report and elicited public response during eight meetings held in the Upper St. John Valley, attended by 25-75 people. The planning team also maintains an active mailing list of 800 individuals and organizations.